


Far From Home

by paranoidParasite



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Homestuck OC, Slow Burn, Unfinished
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:28:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24744601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoidParasite/pseuds/paranoidParasite
Summary: First person perspective from multiple characters in the old fashioned Homestuck style of story telling. Karkat and his friends are forced to flee their galaxy to escape galactic war put forth from an underground resistance set out to destroy the Troll Empire before it gets the chance to leave the galaxy and expand its power. They are joined by one of the members that's on a mission to get them to Earth to establish a new colony, just in case the worst happens.





	1. And So it Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story begins through the eyes of Karkat Vantas, as he wakes up on perhaps the worst day of his life, with some important messages from his secret friend.

Your name is KARKAT VANTAS. You live in the ANDROMEDA GALAXY in a solar system in a very UNUSUALLY BRIGHT STAR. Because of this, your species, called TROLLS, is almost purely NOCTURNAL, except for a few who are called RAINBOW DRINKERS for the main fact that they DRINK TROLL BLOOD. The rainbow part of it coming from the fact that TROLL BLOOD HAS MANY COLOURS. In fact, your WHOLE SOCIETY is built of a HEMOSPECTRUM from the blood. Its VERY STRICT and AGGRESSIVE with the social order that has been in order for AS LONG AS YOUR SPECIES CAN REMEMBER. You sometimes wonder how this all got started, mostly because your species has A LOT OF QUIRKS. The fact that two trolls can not reproduce solely on their own sometimes MAKES YOU WONDER how your species evolved like this, as it's NOT VERY GOOD if a catastrophe were to happen. You have no idea if any of that is COMMON KNOWLEDGE, because you, like many trolls, DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL. Except that you CANNOT GO TO SCHOOL, as if anyone found out your blood colour, YOU WOULD DIE. You don't like to think about that though, because it's ALWAYS ON YOUR MIND, like the many PROBLEMS with your Society. Such as the fact that the QUEEN is the rarest type of blood, and LIVES THE LONGEST. And yes, it is ALWAYS A QUEEN. All men born of that blood are CULLED, like MUTANT TROLLS. Luckily mutants have no real obvious differences. Although the mutation can change MANY MORE THINGS other than the blood colour. You are ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE IN ALMOST EVERY WAY. Your IN ABILITY TO EXPRESS YOUR EMOTIONS in a HEALTHY WAY usually ends up in UNRELENTING ANGER that you take out in every possible way. You can admit that it's PROBABLY NOT THE BEST, but you just DONT CARE. 

You find you get SIDE TRACKED VERY EASILY, and like to go on LONG RANTS that sound VERY ANGRY for the pure fact that you LIKE TO TALK LIKE THIS, IN ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME. Though your quirk is VERY TRUE TO YOUR VOICE, which is why you use it. The other reason is because QUIRKS are VERY IMPORTANT AND PERSONAL in your culture. MIMICKING QUIRKS is VERY OFFENSIVE and you SHOULD NOT DO IT unless you are VERY CLOSE. 

You can admit Trolls are QUITE INTERESTING, mostly because you are sadly UNEDUCATED on almost EVERYTHING. From your THICK GREY SKIN to your oddly CANDY CORN COLOURED HORNS, you find that many other ALIEN SPECIES documented on the OPEN INTERNET don't look quite like yours close enough for comfort. Though HORNS may differ on trolls, that and the blood are some of the only huge differences. Not even the EYES are different. They are all orange, and specialize in SEEING IN THE DARK. That is why only RAINBOW DRINKERS can go out into the BLINDING SUN, and your WHOLE SOCIETY is built in the cover of night. 

Today is YOUR BIRTHDAY, and suppose to be a very HAPPY DAY. You are the YOUNGEST of your friends, even though you all are about the SAME AGE. Trolls count time in SWEEPS, that are MUCH LARGER than human Years because of the planets ORBIT around the HUGE BRIGHT STAR. You are up EXTRA EARLY because one of your friends RUDELY AWOKE YOU. 

USUALLY he NEVER WAKES YOU UP, but now that you are up you figure you should PROBABLY CHECK IT OUT. You use a chat client called TROLLIUM to talk to all your friends on. Your friend has told you his name is THETTA NUMUXI, and as far as you know, none of your other friends SHOULD KNOW HIM. You yourself barely know him, yet HE KNOWS YOU. It's rather weird and YOU DONT LIKE IT SO MUCH. Although you are SOMEWHAT GRATEFUL because he has SAVED YOUR ASS COUNTLESS TIMES. You are a little surprised your friend SOLLUX CAPTOR doesn't know your odd acquaintance, as they both seem to have a nack for CODING, although that's where the similarities seem to stop for the most part. Mostly because your weird friend THETTA seems to be RUSSIAN. Or the closest thing to it. For that reason alone you DONT QUITE TRUST HIM, though you admit that that's PROBABLY STEREOTYPING and NOT NICE. Again, you DONT CARE. You find your Russian pal to be A BIT TOO ENERGETIC for your tastes, because he goes on LONG PASSIONATE RAMBLES in SOMEWHAT COHERENT ENGLISH about topics you DONT QUITE UNDERSTAND. You feel like you may be his ONLY REAL FRIEND, although you still know nearly NOTHING ABOUT HIM. It's QUITE JARRING if you're honest. He feels a little bit ALIEN compared to your other friends, yet a little familiar. 

Through all your muddling about how strange your foreign friend is, you forgot you had to look at what he wanted you for, or what was so important he had to wake you up this early. You get sidetracked again by the thought of how early it is and look out one of your windows. The JUST SETTING SUN lit up the BLEAK and SAD landscape of your planet, which you agree that you SORTA WISH WAS A LOT NICER. And it WOULD BE, if it weren't for all the SOCIAL OPPRESSION OF THE LOWER CLASSES. Almost everyone can agree it's happening, but NO ONE HAS DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT. EVERYTHING is really fucked up, but it's ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. So much so that the troll empire PRACTICALLY OWNS THE WHOLE GALAXY. Which now that you think about it, today is a VERY SPECIAL DAY for the empire. Today is suppose to be the day the queen should be revealing something that should let people travel to other galaxies. This is VERY CONCERNING to you, though your Russian buddy has told you NOT TO WORRY. Again, now that you think about it, you are now VERY WORRIED. 

You have a GRUB TOP that you use around your HIVE for TROLLIUM that your BEASTLY GUARDIAN called a LUSUS gave you for your last WRIGGLING DAY. You seem to have FALLEN ASLEEP in a PILE OF WASHED CLOTHES AND BLANKETS with your grubtop on you, and QUITE A FEW FREW FRIENDS have tried to contact you, but it's QUITE OBVIOUS that Thetta was trying to contact to the most recent. Mostly from the EMPTY ERRORS ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN that only have an "OKAY" button. You have downloaded a NASTY VIRUS on your computer that let your friend Jack your computer. Lucky for you, he didn't seem to want cause harm. 

You close all the errors to take a look at what he was trying to send you. Names on Trollium go by the first letter and the capital letter, making your friends handle from catatonicExplosion to CE on your screen. You don't bother to remember what your name on there is, but you know the letters are CG. 

CE: Karkat  
CE: Kaaaaarkat  
CE: сука! Каркат!  
CE: Wake up (((((((  
CE: no really plz wake up it very important.  
CE: I know you sleeby but you need wake up, so uh. Go ahead and wakey wakey.  
CE: Okay I no wait, I wake you up. Hold on. Not like you have choice. 

That's when he seemed to make your computer explode with noise to wake you up. You aren't very happy about that, but he never does it before the sun is up, he knows how your eyes are extra sensitive to light. 

CG: THE FUCK DO YOU WANT? YOU WOKE ME UP AT AN UNGODLY FUCKING HOUR, WHAT POSSIBLY COULD BE **THIS FUCKING IMPORTANT** THAT YOU HAD TO WAKE ME UP?  
CE: Да, I am sorry I wake you up so early but I really need to today. So good news bad news!  
CG: OH GREAT. GIVE ME THE GOOD NEWS FIRST I SUPPOSE.  
CE: You get meet me today! Yaaaaay!  
CG: BAD NEWS..?  
CE: Well That is the bad news as well. You get meet me today. Today the day. I no expect it come so early, but it need be today.  
CG: WAIT WHAT- WHY THE FUCK TODAY? WHAT THE FUCK TODAY? YOUVE BEEN REALLY SECRETIVE ABOUT THIS WHOLE FUCKING THING!  
CE: Да, Да- извините, sorry. I tell you I tell you what I can. I tell you much more later but I only tell you little bit. I no expecting reveal to be so soon, it throw plans off guard.  
CG: WAIT- WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? THETTA YOU STUPID RUSSIAN FUCKER WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU ASSHAT?  
CE: I no able to tell just yet! I sorry! I need you wake friends up if you want avoid most of blood shed. I no want you get hurt ((((  
CG: YOU TELL ME NOT TO PANIC BUT TELL ME THIS SHIT, I AM PANICKING.  
CE: Неееет!!!! Нет! Nooo! No panic I got this under control! Sh sh. Ш. Please just try get everyone in one place no suspicious! No want panic.  
CG: WE ARE GONNA PANIC ANYWAYS, ARENT WE?  
CE: .... ееех.. Да, probably, yes.  
CG: I REGRET NOT THROWING THIS OUT SOMETIMES. 

And with that you find it's best to stop trolling him and move on. He probably has things he has to do, knowing him he probably hyper-fixated on trying to wake you up. You suppose you and him are the same in that fact, how you fixate in things so easily. He does go on very long rambles that rival the length of your raves and rants, so you suppose that's why you can get along pretty well, you can both hold up a conversation with each other easily while going off on each other about various things. You actually feel SLIGHTLY SAFER talking to him about most things then your friends, this is due to the fact NO ONE ELSE KNOWS HIM. Thetta has told you before that he sort of knows your friends from the times he spies on you, which he ADMITS HE DOES OFTEN. You would find it VERY UNNERVING if he wasn't so careful with KEEPING YOU OKAY. You have NO IDEA WHY he does this, but he does, and you put up with it. Mainly because you rather it him then any of your friends. That probably says A LOT about you now that you think about it, but you just DONT CARE. 

Out off all your friends, you would say you are the closest to GAMZEE MAKARA, a PURPLE BLOOD JUGGALO that you are MOIRAILS with. Basically you are REALLY GOOD FRIENDS who CARE A LOT about each other. Its called a QUADRANT and they are very important to your society, although they can be A LITTLE COMPLICATED. Your friend Thetta has a RUDIMENTARY understanding of them, unlike most trolls who know them PRETTY WELL. Though he and your friend Gamzee probably relate in that sense, but Gamzee ISNT SCHOOLED unlike Thetta, who is JUST REALLY WEIRD. Gamzee would be able to get schooling VERY EASY if he ACTUALLY WANTED IT, but instead he spends his day doing GOD KNOWS WHAT and eating SOPOR PIES. Trolls ARE NOT suppose to eat sopor, it does weird things to the brain, which your kind calls a THINK PAN. Admittedly you agree with Thetta when he said that Think Pan makes him think of an ACTUAL PAN at first. You are sure there has to be a better word for THINK PAN, but you don't know what word that could possibly be. 

You realize you got REALLY SIDETRACKED again, that happens A LOT. You have a lot of thoughts to think, and so little time to think them, yet too much time as well. It's VERY COMPLICATED, like MANY THINGS, all of which you rather NOT GET INTO RIGHT NOW. If you did you could be spacing out for a FEW HOURS, and you're suppose to be WAKING YOUR FRIENDS UP. Your buddy Gamzee should be awake, as he RARELY SEEMS TO SLEEP. You have NO IDEA how he can stand any light like that to WILLINGLY BE AWAKE. But you have to admit, it's QUITE HELPFUL at times, especially right now. You click on his Trollium, which is terminallyCapricious, or TC for short and start TROLLING HIM. 

CG: HEY FUCKASS, ARE YOU AWAKE? I ASSUME YOU ARE BECAUSE WHEN THE FUCK ARENT YOU?  
TC: hEy BrO :o)  
TC: yEaH, iM aWaKe. WhAt ThE mOtHeRfUcK iS uP bEsTfRiEnD :o)?

You are already BOILING WITH ANGER. You HATE how he types. It's REALLY ANNOYING. But you DONT SAY MUCH, or try to, because you at least TRY TO BE NICE. 

CG: NOTHING MUCH, IM JUST MAKING SURE YOU ARE.  
TC: yOu SuRe BrO :o0?  
CG: YES I AM VERY SURE, GAMZEE.  
TC: hAvE yOu BeEn HaViNg TrOuBlE sLeEpInG aGaIn?  
CG: NO, IM FINE I TOLD YOU THAT. I JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS AWAKE.  
TC: oKaY KaRbRo, If YoU SaY sO. 

You are VERY GLAD that that's over. You find yourself thinking about how normal it is to use the same word twice in a row in a sentence even though it looks and sounds a LITTLE WRONG. Scratch that, VERY WRONG. The language is VERY WEIRD you can agree. You sometimes wish you knew what Thetta was saying in his language, because his seems A LOT SIMPLER in that sense. Then again, you CANNOT SPEAK IT or UNDERSTAND IT so maybe it could be MORE COMPLEX than you first thought, you DONT KNOW, and sorta DONT CARE. You are sure that at least ONE of your friends should be able to learn Thetta's language, just NOT YOU. 

You got SIDETRACKED YET AGAIN, and missed that your friend SOLLUX CAPTOR, or TA on Trollium has messaged you. You don't know what's up with him half the time, because he's VERY MOODY. You think he said something once about BEING BIPOLAR, but you aren't QUITE SURE what that TOTALLY MEANS, but you do know you ARENT SURPRISED. You would wonder why he's up so early, but knowing him you bet that he STAYED UP ALL DAY in a TROLL MONSTER FUELED MANIC EPISODE. What he could have been doing is BEYOND YOU, but you assume it was CODING or GAMING. Perhaps both?

TA: kk why the fuck are you awake 2o early?  
TA: dont an2wer that actually, ii don't need two know, doe2nt matter.  
CG: I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME FUCKING THING, SOL.  
TA: oh hu2h. check thii2 out dude, iit2 iimportant  
CG: SO IMPORTANT YOU STAYED UP ALL DAY I BET? HOW THE FUCK DO YOU EVEN DO THAT.  
TA: well fiir2t off my eye2 arent 2en2iitiive liike your2. 2econd, ii cover all my wiindow2 2o ii don't go fuckiing bliind. you 2hould try iit 2ometiime kk, not liike there2 much two fuckiing 2ee our there now ii2 there?  
CG: NO, NO THERE FUCKING ISNT, YOURE RIGHT.  
TA: exactly.  
CG: SO WHATS SO FUCKING IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAD TO NEARLY KILL YOURSELF BY DRINKING THAT FIZZY FUCKING ENERGY GARBAGE?  
TA: 2hut up, ii liike how iit ta2te2.  
CG: LIKE NUCLEAR WASTE?  
TA: yeah 2ure let2 go wiith that.  
TA: anyway2 you need two 2hut up and lii2ten two me, iit2 iimportant.  
CG: DONT STRAIN YOURSELF TOO HARD AND GET FUCKING BLOOD PUSHER TREMORS OR SOMETHING.  
TA: ii 2aiid 2hut the fuck up  
CG: OKAY FINE, SHUTTING THE FUCK UP. 

You find Sollux to be QUITE HARD TO TALK TO at times with how BITCHY he can be. Whatever he needs to tell you is PROBABLY IMPORTANT. In his eyes at least, because he seems to HATE TALKING. 

TA: okay 2o a2 you know ii wa2 up all day bc ii ju2t couldnt 2leep. long 2tory 2hort ii thiink there2 a rea2on the whole thiing wa2 moved two twoday. iit2 ju2t a coiinciidence that iit2 your wriiggliing day But ii thiink 2omethiing ii2 gonna happen twoday.  
CG: WHAT GIVES YOU THAT IDEA?  
TA: well ii could go on for a whiile but ii thiink iit2 paiilfully clear what the fuck ii2 up. and ii thiink you know.  
CG: HEY, YOURE THROWING SOME STRONG FUCKING ACCUSATIONS YOURE THROWING AT ME CAPTOR, THE FUCK IS YOUR DEAL?  
TA: dont "what2 your deal" me vanta2, you are well aware of thii2 whole thiing iim pretty 2ure of iit. you refu2ed help on your grubtop when you got that horriible fuckiing viiru2, ii know you diidnt take care of iit yoru2elf, you tra2h every computer you try two code on or fiix.  
CG: OKAY, WOW, THATS FUCKING RUDE. LIKE YOU HAVENT TRASHED COMPUTERS BEFORE?  
TA: my computer ii2 bee2. no ii have not tra2hed iit ii take very good care of iit and the bee2 thank you very much, you on the other hand are a dii2a2ter.  
CG: SAYS FUCKING YOU??? HAVE YOU LOOKED IN A MIRROR LATELY?  
TA: what2 a miirror?  
CG: OH MY GOD SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU ASSHOLE.  
TA: lol

You sadly do not know everything that's going on like he accused you, but you DO KNOW that something BIG is suppose to happen. You figure it's best to just tell him that, but as subtle as you can, which isn't that subtle...

CG: LOOK, ALL I KNOW IS THAT TODAY SOMETHING BIG IS SUPPOSE TO HAPPEN. I DONT KNOW WHAT.  
TA: well then what2 your part iin all of thii2? you 2ome 2ort of 2py?  
CG: OH FUCK NO, NO NO NO. IM NOT A FUCKING SPY, I WOULD BE TERRIBLE.  
TA: ii agree, you would be fuckiing terriible at iit. but really, what the fuck ii2 up wiith your computer, why the fuck diid you reject help, iit2 obviiou2ly 2tiill u2able.  
CG: YES, I CAN STILL USE IT QUITE EASILY. I DOWNLOADED SOMETHING THAT LET SOMEONE JACK MY COMPUTER ON ACCIDENT, BUT THEY TURNED OUT TO BE NICE.  
TA: how the fuck diid that happen, who are they? tho2e are the la2t kiind of people you wanna friiend. how fuckiing deep are you iin thii2 2hiit???  
CG: CALM THE FUCK DOWN, IM FINE. HES NOT REALLY FROM AROUND THESE PARTS, HES MY FRIEND NOW AND HES ACTUALLY NICE, I TOLD YOU.  
TA: iim am calm what gave you the iidea ii wa2nt? iim ju2t a liittle concerned about you bc iive been around darker part2 of the web and you meet 2ome fucked up people.  
CG: CLEARLY, I MET YOU.  
TA: oh 2hut the fuck up.  
TA: what ha2 thii2 dude been gettiing you two do.  
CG: LITERALLY NOTHING, WE ARE JUST FRIENDS, YOU DONT NEED TO FUCKING WORRY!! LISTEN, IF IT MAKES YOU FUCKING CALM THE FUCK DOWN, HE SAYS HIS NAME IS THETTA AND HE SPEAKS ANOTHER LANGUAGE. HE WOKE ME UP AND TOLD ME I HAD TO MAKE SURE ALL OF YOU WERE AWAKE AS WELL, HES BEEN KEEPING ME AS IN THE DARK AS HE CAN, THATS HOW HE IS. ITS WEIRD AS FUCK BUT HES SAVED MY ASS A FEW TIMES SO I KEEP HIM AROUND. I THINK IM HIS ONLY FRIEND ANYWAYS, AND HE STILL HAS CONTROL OF MY COMPUTER SO ITS KIND OF HARD TO GET RID OF HIM NOW. JUST FUCKING TRUST ME ON THIS, OKAY?

Your friend doesn't reply right away, so you find your eyes wandering away from the screen. The sun has fully set now, so your friends should be waking up soon. That's a good sign, because you don't know how fast you're supposed to wake everyone up. You assume it doesn't matter, but you can't help feel that it does. 

TA: okay, fiine, ii tru2t you. ii don't tru2t hiim, but ii tru2t you.  
CG: THATS ALL I FUCKING ASK FOR.  
TA: yeah cool. 2o do you know anythiing el2e? you 2ure he doe2nt tell you thiing2?  
CG: YES, IM SURE. THE ONLY OTHER THING I KNOW IS THAT HE SAID IM GOING TO GET TO MEET HIM TODAY.  
TA: really?  
CG: YEAH, I KNOW. ILL KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR SO I WILL KNOW HIM WHEN I SEE HIM. HE SHARES YOUR BLOOD COLOUR AND HAS WEIRDLY SHAPED HORNS BECAUSE HE SAYS HE NEEDS TO CONSTANTLY BREAK THEM OFF AND GROW THEM OUT PROPERLY OR ELSE IT CAN CAUSE HIM PROBLEMS. I DIDNT THINK TROLL HORNS GROW BACK THOUGH?  
TA: they don't. or they aren't 2uppo2e two. are you 2ure he2 a troll?  
CG: YES I AM VERY SURE. HES A LITTLE WEIRD, BUT HE IS FOR SURE A TROLL.  
TA: ii2 HE a 2py?  
CG: WHY THE FUCK WOULD I KNOW?  
TA: iidk you two 2ound clo2e  
CG: NOT REALLY? I DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE DUDE.  
TA: oh okay 2o he2 that kiind of guy, okay.  
TA: well anyway2, iif he 2ay2 we all need two be awake you better go do iit, who know2 how much tiime we have left.  
CG: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?  
TA: ii gue22 we wiill ju2t have two waiit and 2ee.  
CG: OKAY IM GONNA STOP TALKING TO YOU KNOW, HAVE FUN CHUGGING RADIOACTIVE FUCKING WASTE AS A DRINK TO STAY AWAKE  
TA: already ahead of you

You are RELIEVED that thats over, you weren't sure when he would stop. You don't like talking for TOO LONG. Not in the mornings at least. Though now that you know two friends are up, you aren't sure how to wake the rest up. 

Sound coming from outside your hive catches your attention, though mainly because there's no other sound other than your breathing, and that, the sound of the night life starting up. Soon it should be getting pretty loud, especially today. The showing of- whatever it was that's suppose to take us to the next level of space travel was being shown here, in your city. You can admit that a bit too perfect to be just a coincidence. It feels like you may end up going to see the showing. You feel like everyone is going to be there. That's why Thetta must want your friends up as well, whatever is going on, he's not just going to save your ass, he's bringing all your friends along too. You start to wonder if he's going to come along as well. What's he going to do if he stays behind- where are they even going? What's going on? You have a bad feeling about today. A REALLY BAD feeling. 

Your bad feelings are overshadowed when your friend NEPETA LEIJON, or AC starts trolling you. 

AC: :33< happy wriggling day karkitty! 

You DO NOT LIKE HER THAT MUCH. You prefer NOT TO TALK TO HER AT ALL, but you put up with her you suppose. 

CG: THANKS. I SEE YOURE UP EARLY.  
AC: :33< I've been working on something fur you! I woke up early to finish it!

That's A LOT OF YOUR FRIENDS already up early. That's weird. Today is a VERY WEIRD DAY. It barely feels like a special day, EVEN THOUGH ITS SUPPOSE TO BE. You assume you feel weird because you WOKE UP WAY TOO EARLY. Maybe you're just tired?

CG: OH, YOU DIDNT NEED TO DO THAT, BUT THANK YOU.  
AC: :33< of course I had to! Are you going to the showing too? I can give it to you there! Equius is going to be there too!  
CG: REALLY? HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE ARE COMING?  
AC: :33< I'm not sure! 

You aren't sure if you want to show up. That's A LOT of Trolls all in one place, and your friends will be there too. If you're going to go, you need to "pretty yourself up" first, you don't like people seeing your blood colour. So much so that you avoid using almost ANY COLOUR in your wardrobe. Most of your attire is adorned with the grey symbol of THE SIGNLESS, although he is a TABOO TOPIC in society for being a MUTANT TROLL who spoke out agains the VERY CORRUPT SYSTEM. You're lucky in the fact that most of his history has been covered up by the alternian government in an attempt to control the masses into submission, or else wearing this would PROBABLY GET YOU KILLED. Then again, a lot of things will PROBABLY GET YOU KILLED. The most popular way being CULLING. You REALLY DONT LIKE THINKING ABOUT IT. You are going to STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. You do so by noting someone else messaged you.

CE: Да, you will be go. You go to showing, you get friends to showing. I be there.

You admit that you get QUITE ANNOYED with his lack of grammar, but he DOESNT CARE, and gets QUITE ANGRY when you try to correct him too much. So you simply DONT. 

CG: UH, OKAY? ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW?  
CE: Нет, you learn in due time. Just get to showing. No worry, I be there so you safe.  
CG: WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO WORRY ABOUT. WHOS OUT TO GET ME?  
CE: НЕТ! No one out get you! Shhh. I tell you it fine. Even if someone looking for you, which no one is, I trained very well! You no need worry, you worry more about death from me then anything else when around me. I more likely to kill you than anything else.  
CG: OH YEAH THAT MAKES ME FEEL SAFE.  
CE: it will )))))  
CG: I HATE HOW OMINOUS YOU CAN FUCKING BE. 

You stop trolling him and turn your attention back to Nepeta. She seemed to have went off about how she could get everyone else to come along because she knew most of them were already considering it, but didn't decide yet. Typical, really. 

CG: YES, IM COMING, THIS SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING I WANT TO WITNESS. AND YEAH, WHY THE FUCK NOT BRING EVERYONE ELSE ALONG? THIS ISNT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS EVERY DAY.  
AC: :33< really? purrfect! no going back on your word this time, karkitty!  
CG: YEAH YEAH, WHATEVER. 

So it's settled. Whatever happens today, if you die, at least you die with your friends. You can't tell if you rather die first or they do, but honestly you really rather NO ONE dies. Your train of thought breaks as Sollux Trolls you again. 

TA: okay 2o what the fuck ii2 he planniing. ii know you never wiilliingly come out two 2ee u2 thii2 ea2iily, even liike a day liike thii2.  
CG: I TOLD YOU ALREADY, I DONT FUCKING KNOW!!! I RATHER NOT FUCKING GO, BUT THETTA WANTS ME TO. HE DOESNT DO A GOOD JOB NOT MAKING ME NERVOUS ABOUT IT, BUT HE SAYS HE WILL BE THERE. ANY TIME HES SENT ME SOMEWHERE HE HAS NEVER BEEN THERE HIMSELF, HE SAID IT WOULD BE TOO DANGEROUS.  
TA: ii don't have a good feeliing about thii2. at all.  
CG: ME EITHER, BUT I TRUST HIM SO FAR.  
TA: 2o far?  
CG: YEAH. GOD KNOWS WHAT HES UP TO, BUT HE SEEMS FRIENDLY. ITS THE FIRST TIME WE WILL SEE EACH OTHER AND HES MAKING ME BRING ALL OF YOU AS WELL, SO I SEE NO REASON TO BE AFRAID REALLY. PLUS IF I DIE I DIE WHAT THE FUCK AM I GONNA DO ABOUT IT? HE SAID HIMSELF, WHEN IM AROUND HIM THE BIGGEST THREAT TO ME IS HIM MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE.  
TA: wow you really have no fear rn do you kk? alriight ii gue22 ii can be okay wiith thii2. iill come two ju2t iin ca2e anythiing bad happen2.  
CG: UH HUH, OKAY, SURE. WHATEVER YOU SAY.  
TA: ii can 2en2e your want two make fun of my lii2p and iif you do ii wiill kiill you. don't you dare.  
CG: CHILL, I DONT WANNA DIE THAT BADLY TODAY  
TA: twoday.  
CG: LISTEN, I JUST WANT TO AVOID TALKING TO EVERYONE ELSE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I GET THERE. IM NOT IN THE MOOD. I ASSUME YOU GUYS ARE ALREADY TAKING CARE OF GETTING EVERYONE TO COME. AND BY YOU GUYS I MEAN YOU AND NEP.  
TA: yeah we are. you go get ready bc ii know you take forever.  
CG: OH SHUT UP, YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL WITH GETTING READY.  
TA: you 2ound liike you're getting ready for a date every tiime you leave the hou2e  
CG: I HAVE TO LOOK DECENT FOR MYSELF.  
TA: well at lea2t you have 2ome 2tandard2  
CG: UNLIKE YOU  
TA: liie2. bla2tphamy. ii can't beliieve iim beiing attacked liike thii2.  
CG: HAH. 

You close your computer and move it beside you and groan as you force yourself up from your comfy little nest. Walking up to a window, you take some time to appreciate how better things look under the moonlight. Though I helps that the city lights make things more colourful. Your view of the city from your current window is obscured by hives of two others. Everyone tends to keep to themselves around here, especially you. Though you do live in a high-density area of lowbloods, from Reds to Yellows they are mostly packed in this small area of city. Mostly the lower lower class ones. You find the class system very confusing and not right. Despite the fact that you're probably surrounded by trolls sort of like you, you dare not take any chances of that sort. It's bad enough you have one friend for every colour in the hemospectrum, not including Thetta because you don't count him as really part of the group, seeing as you- and now Sollux- are the only people that know about him. But soon you guess everyone will know him. Now that you think about that, the unevenness of your friends now bugs you. You aren't fond of it, but you can't do anything about it. 

A neon sign catches your eye from the fairly narrow strip you can see past the houses. There's lots of signs like that in this area. Although the buildings may look bleak themselves, the signs are often lit up brightly. It hurts your eyes sometimes, because the colours used are the colours usually associated with the high and mid bloods. It can look really nice, but you find it's more of a reminder that you're stuck in a place that wants to kill you for who you are. There's bright reds too, though that colour is associated with the empire. You find that quite ironic. Speaking of empire, now that you're on the subject, it's getting ready for a big reveal for this supposed object that will take us to new heights, outside of the galaxy. Trolls practically own this one, so the only next logical step is out there. They weren't suppose to be revealing it so soon, but it came a few weeks early. You start to space out as you think about all this. Thetta was pretty stressed, you could tell because his rants were shorter and made even less sense at times. You assume it's stress, it makes sense if it were that. You are dying to know what Thetta is planning. You can't wait to know- and once you see him you can know. Which reminds you, you should be getting ready, NOT staring out your damn window. Lucky for you, you have a pile of clothes right there to choose from. 

Getting dressed was never hard for you, as all your clothes are basically the same. A dark shirt no one sees, a big grey sweater, pants, all that fun stuff and you're ready to go. Maybe after you brush your hair a little- you also should brush your teeth, shouldn't you? What about something to eat? You just woke up, and if you're gonna die, you rather die on a full stomach. You realize it's been a few hours and you still haven't left yet, but any last minute things shouldn't be important. You hope. 

Saying goodbye to your lusus, you FINALLY leave the hive, only to realize you forgot your grubtop. Seeing as all your friends will be there with you, you say it's safe to say to won't be needing it. You decide to just keep on walking, you want to get there early so you can meet up with Thetta, you're eager to find out more now that he wants to meet you face to face. 

You find that all your walks you take, you don't quite remember. You assume it's because your part of the city is almost dream-like. You figure that HAS to be on purpose, no way it couldn't be. Make it look nice, and you keep the oppressed masses at bay- or something stupid like that. It pretty much works on you, right? It does look really nice when you look at it a certain way, and ignore everything, but isn't that how everything works? You just blur the picture a little and it looks pretty. It's like someone with glasses taking them off and looking at street lights. You can't see them as well, but somehow it just looks BETTER. Perhaps that's just the nature of things you suppose, no reason to really ponder it that much, it just simply is. 

When you come back down to earth from your thoughts, you find you don't actually know where you're going... It appears to be a dense shopping district, the streets and sidewalks where busy with all sorts of life. A lot of the traffic was going northbound, so you can only assume that's where the showing is. You now regret not asking where it was, as you never really payed attention to that, not really thinking you would need too. But here you are now, lost and surrounded by strangers. Luckily for you, you are very sure that all the traffic going northwards is going to the showing. After all, only the high bloods, rich trolls, and the highly educated can drive, and the rest either walk or take public transport. You prefer to walk, as you hate being trapped in small spaces. It terrifies you and makes you feel paranoid as hell, and you don't need that right now, that's the last thing you need. 

Your suspicions were right, the traffic lead you right to the showing, which was inside a huge colosseum. It looked a little intimidating- scratch that, VERY intimidating. Trolls never were good with NICE LOOKING buildings, only STRUDY, CREEPY, and DARK ones. You DONT LIKE IT. BUT you do like that you think you spotted Thetta. He was the only one who looked like he was enjoying taking all of this in. He also looked lost- and he wasn't wearing something you would commonly see... and now that you're getting closer, you can see that his appearance is a little different too. His ears aren't that common among trolls, you know that. Big and floppy- you think your friend TAVROS May have ears like those, but you aren't sure, you've only heard from Gamzee what he looked like. You're sure Tavros is just as nice as Gamzee has told you, he seems nice enough in text, even though he's A BIT OF A PUSH OVER. Unlike Thetta, who you are walking towards still. 

You take some more time to quickly take in what your odd friend looks like. His figure was pretty obscured because of the huge poncho he wore, but that didn't stop you from knowing it was him. He had two sets of horns, both curling towards the back of his head. When you thought about it, it sort of reminded you of a picture of an atom for some reason. Though his horns seemed to touch when they curled in, seemingly they grew that way, and not nicely because all four points were still pointing at the back of his skull. You now know why he says he has issues with his horns, you cannot imagine all the struggles those suckers might give him, especially while sleeping. When you get close enough to him where he notices you, you notice something that you think might be a tail, but you aren't sure, because if he does have one, he's hiding it right now. As far as you know, Trolls do not have tails. He smiles widely when he sees you, almost as if he as seen you before, and is just really happy to see you once more. There's not many people lingering outside, as the crowd was slowly thinning as you two walked towards each other. 

"КАРКАТ!"  
You hear him shout excitedly at you as he calmly rushes up to you and gives you a big, quick hug before grabbing your face and greeting you a little too personally for your tastes by giving a kiss on each cheek. You never did like how friendly and open he was, and now this is worse. You push Thetta away with a hiss and rub your cheeks, glaring at him. He was quite tall, and that goofy smile of his didn't even fade when you got angry at him. 

"DONT FUCKING DO THAT- THATS TOO FUCKING CLOSE- BACK THE FUCK OFF A LITTLE."

"Да, sorry my friend! I get little too excite to see you!"  
He laughs sheepishly and rubs his hands, looking around with a little bit of nervousness to his face.  
"It really nice see you, but I afraid we need move quickly. Come come, I explain all in due time."  
He took your arm and slid it down to your hand as he lead you inside of the building, letting go once he knew you were following. 

"IM GETTING REAL ANNOYED NOW..."

"I know, I KNOW, but I really mean when I say I no able tell you know."

"YOUR GRAMMAR KEEPS GETTING WORSE, YOU SEEM STRESSED"

"Да, да, shhh.. follow."  
He puts a finger to your mouth for a second before leading you through the lobby, leading him down to some of the better seats, seats they shouldn't be near. You really do not like any of this, it feels weird. It looked fancy for troll standards, certainly somewhere you wouldn't normally go. Trolls that passed you both down the hallway gave you dirty looks, but you tried to ignore it. After all, you're with him right now, and he said the biggest threat to him was him. 

You came to the area with the seats, which seemed to be one of the top floors with seats near the ledge. He stopped and pointed to a small group sitting by the first seats. You could tell from their horns that it's your friends. You must have taken longer than you thought. Much longer.  
"There, you friends over there. I no join you right now, but you know me when you see me."

"WAIT- WHAT! YOU CANT JUST LEAVE ME LIKE THAT!!!!"  
You were almost offended by that, very offended! Thetta pats your face with his hands and smiles at you calmly. 

"Каркат, Каркот... Shh- it okay, I be back. Today VERY important! Very important. I need you to listen to me, okay? If this all work you know everything."

"WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN IF?"  
You do NOT feel calm. This is NOT OKAY. 

Through all this, Sollux seemed to hear you. Not that it's hard, because you are VERY LOUD and have a VERY RECOGNIZABLE VOICE. He saw you talking with this STRANGER, and knew exactly who it was. You didn't realize he was HEADING THIS WAY until it was too late. Thetta opened his mouth to talk, but looked above you, and then you feel a hand on your shoulder. 

"who the fuck are you? you that Thetta guy kk told me about?"  
He frowned at Thetta and had a snear on his face. Thetta just gave him a smile and a friendly little wave. 

"Да! I am! I hope we get acquainted soon, but I need go now! Рока!"  
And with that, he scampered off. Sollux took his hand off you and watched him run off before looking down at you. This is the first time you saw him in person, as you don't leave the house very often, but he's just as you expected. Tall and lanky, and in baggy clothes that make him look a little bigger than he is. 

"ii don't liike hiim."

"YOU DONT LIKE MANY PEOPLE, YOU DONT EVEN KNOW HIM!"

"do you?"

"MORE THAN FUCKING YOU!"  
You huff and he rolls his head before gently putting a hand on your shoulder and pulling you towards where the others were for a second so you would follow, you do. 

"whatever. ii ju2t hope you know what you're doiing."

"BARELY."

"that2 why ii 2aiid hope. ii know you're cluele22."

When you both sat down, the lights dimmed, and the loud chatter slowed to a hush. In the middle of the colosseum there was something VERY large under a tarp. You are so distracted about what you realized that you didn't hear your friends trying to whisper hello.  
Under the tarp was a ship. A ship that can take a small crew of people to the next galaxy over. And Thetta is going after that ship, and he is making you and your friends get on that ship. You are terrified. 

A spotlight comes on with a click, shining down on the Queen herself. You cannot he possibly more scared anymore, this day has just gotten A LOT WORSE. Your heart drops and your chest aches, this is the worst day of your life. Everyone is fixated on her as she struts around the tarp, talking about how this is the ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND and will be FOR A VERY LONG TIME. They all stared in awe with baited breaths, waiting for her to reveal what it looks like, and what it is. Although you already know what it is, and you are right. As she rips the tarp off with her MIND POWERS that are the MOST POWERFUL OF ALL OTHER TROLLS, a spotlight is shone on the now big, shiny interstellar ship that is going to go into the cosmos, far away from any other trolls. And you are going to be on that ship. 

All the lights flicker off as a deafening explosion is heard, followed by some crumbling of the colosseum. The sky roared with the sound of screaming and more explosions. Trolls panicked and rushed to get out, everyone pushing each other over as they panicked. Your first reaction wasn't to look for a way out, but to stay put and look for Thetta. It seems like Sollux was the same way, as you were the only two who didn't run away right away. Sollux spotted him and pointed him out to you with a shocked expression, one almost filled with absolute fear. He was booking it to the ship after THROWING THE RULER THROUGH A WALL. You notice now that he DOES IN FACT HAVE A TAIL. Your friends gather around in awe as they catch glimpse of what you both were starting at. As he reached the ship there was another explosion that shook the whole building, making the railing crumble before you. You step back, waiting for instructions by him. None come. The Queen is up and getting ready to kick his ass and he doesn't even bring attention to you. The building isn't even close to empty yet, you can hear nothing but screaming and it's hurting your head. Sollux tightly grabs your arm as Thetta slaps something into the outside of the ship that seemed to turn it on, fleeing instantly as a huge chunk of building was thrown at him. What seemed to be trolls more like Thetta dressed in what you assume are military grade garbs came busting in, helping your Russian friend with the deadly threat that was out to murder him. You can barely make out the fight that ensued as the ship starts to take off with no one in it. 

"okay we are all gonna have two jump ontwo that 2hiip-"  
Sollux kept his eyes on the ship as it made maneuvers to come around where you are, a door open. He holds your arm tightly and takes someone else's hand randomly, everyone else hesitantly linking hands before making a run for it and jumping into the ship as it passed by quickly. Luckily everyone made it safely inside before the door shut and sealed itself, shooting off into the sky, and off to another galaxy, all of you trapped inside with no idea what's going on.


	2. Let’s Get This bread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux gets a somewhat expected surprise outside the ship door.

Your name is SOLLUX CAPTOR, you are a GOLD BLOOD with PSICONICS or HOWEVER YOU ACTUALLY SPELL THAT. You ARENT SURE, and DONT CARE. People understand you anyways. You have a LISP and talk 2orta liike thii2, and liike two make ca2ual two pun2, bc iif you don't, you wiill DIIE. You have been on a INTERSTELLAR SHIP with your 11 OTHER FRIENDS but you DIDNT MEAN TO GET STUCK HERE. It's been about 5 days on this ship, and everyone is already in a heated environment. Personally, you don't really care, you're more thinking about THE MAN WHO PUT YOU ON THIS THING, and if he's ACTUALLY ALIVE. When you saw him taking THE QUEEN HEAD ON, you were amazed. It takes REAL GUTS to STAND UP TO THE MOST POWERFUL TROLL ON ALTERNIA. Not even YOU WOULD DO THAT. You can't even fathom him being alive, but you SECRETLY WISH HE WAS, because you have MANY QUESTIONS. 

The ship you are on is currently headed for THE MILKYWAY GALAXY, as it is THE NEAREST TO YOU. At your CURRENT SPEED it would take WAY TOO FUCKING LONG to get there. You would MAKE IT GO FASTER using your POWERS, but KARKAT HAS BEEN MOPING because he is WORRIED ABOUT THETTA. If you are honest, YOU ARE TOO, but you WONT ADMIT THAT. Instead you refuse to make you guys go faster because you BOTH WANT TO SEE IF HE SHOWS UP SOMEHOW. You want to know if HES ALIVE AND OKAY, because you know if HE DIDNT ESCAPE, HE WOULD DIE. Or WORSE. You don't want to think about WHAT THEY MIGHT DO TO HIM. You REALLY HOPE YOU SEE HIM AGAIN, if not for your sake, FOR HIS. 

You have MANY NERVOUS HABITS, and A LOT OF THEM HAVE BEEN SHOWING because you are VERY STRESSED. This whole thing is VERY STRESSFUL. You could have DIED ON ALTERNIA had that RUSSIAN BASTARD not decided to JACK HIS COMPUTER. He DIDNT EVEN FUCKING KNOW YOU, yet he SAVED YOUR ASS. ALL OF YOUR ASSES. And he knew ONLY KARKAT. And you WERENT SO NICE TO HIM. And now HE MIGHT BE DEAD. You are starting to HAVE SOME REGRETS, but you're HOLDING YOUR TONGUE just in case he COMES BACK. Your friend Karkat is PASSED OUT AT THE CONTROLS. He's sitting in one of the two chairs at the front by the ships MAIN CONTROLS. There's a BIG WINDOW that STARES AT THE MILKY WAY, but there ISNT MANY STARS ANYMORE. You find yourself STANDING BY THE DOOR OF THE SHIP. You LINKED HANDS WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS and JUMPED IN while Thetta piloted it FROM THE GROUND. It TOOK OFF WITHOUT HIM, and he STAYED BEHIND. You stare out the door window, almost wishing that HE WOULD BE OUT THERE. The ship is A LOT BIGGER ON THE INSIDE THAT IT SHOULD BE. This confuses you, but that's THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES. 

You look over at your friend Karkat, still sleeping. He's been OUT COLD for a while now, but that's because he was UP FOR A FEW DAYS because he REFUSED TO SLEEP. You go to walk over to CHECK UP ON HIM, knowing that he's ALIVE, but STILL WANTING TO MAKE SURE. As you take a step, you hear a knock on the door that makes your eyes go wide. You look back over at the door, and out the window you see something, or rather someone. You could tell right away it was Thetta, because even though his face was covered, you knew that horn shape. It was bizarre to you, his horns. You slammed a big red "OPEN" button to let him in, almost glaring at him. You step away from the door, as there is a zone near it marked by a yellow line. Walls come down on the line and the door opens. The air lock area whistled loudly as the air that WAS there got sucked out into the vacuum of space before the door shut. The airlock pressurized again before opening slowly. You stare at the walls as they come up, and then stare at the Russian stranger as he took his helmet off. He grins at you with a sharp toothed grin, the same huge goofy smile he adorned around karkat. His hair was all messy, though it's style was already just long, carelessly tossed around hair that came just to his shoulders, it was just MORE messy this time you saw him. He's smiling at you, and his eyes tell you he feels fine, but you do notice a few scrapes on his cheek. Why you're looking so closely at him, you have NO CLUE. Nor do you REALLY CARE at the moment. You can tell his space suit was specially made for him. 

"Ах- привет- hullo! Thank you for let me i-"  
You slap him across the face and hiss at him, very angry suddenly. 

"THAT2 for not telliing u2 a FUCKIING THIING. What the FUCK! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!"  
You throw your arms in the air, ready to start cussing him out. Thetta frowned a little when you slapped him, and rubbed his cheek, but quickly put a hand on your shoulder as you started to get visibly upset, although you were trying to mask it. When he touched you, even through the suit you could feel an energy to him, a sort of tingly, electric feeling to him. It's basically in the air as well as you stand next to him. You're numb to your own energy that comes off you, just for the fact that you're BOTH BATTERIES basically, so you're UNAWARE of the vibes you are giving him right now. He just puts your arms down and gives you a gentle, but stern look. 

"Да, yes, I know this very hard right now, you just lose your planet and now suddenly off to new galaxy with friends and complete stranger, it scary, да, I know. I tell you everything now that I have you all as safe as I can get you."  
He takes his hand off your shoulder after giving you a pat. You are still seething with anger, but you do feel A LITTLE CALMER NOW.  
"Look, you know this clearly, but I no troll like you. I troll, but different. Clearly."  
He swished his tail- which you have to say is pretty long and shaped sort of oddly at the end. It's encased in the suit, so you CANT SEE ANY POSSIBLE MARKINGS on it. His ears droop a little and he pouts as he continues.  
"I sent to you planet as little grubling- my job to live among you guys and send info back to colony-"

"waiit waiit- COLONY?"

"Да- да- shhh calm down. I from colony of trolls- we were put on very cold planet- VERY COLD! One day we decide to fake whole colony death and live under radar. Bc we no had mother grub to make more us, we make OWN mother grub."

"how the FUCK!"

"Eh- generics and stuff, science, you know! But anyways that why I look different than you guys- I from troll made mother grub- and ever since we go under cover from empire we work hard to build up power all over galaxy. We have been planing attack for many sweeps now. We were forced to move faster when we find out queen wanting to expand her power, we no want that to happen. So we try stop it, but that no do it. We attack that day because if we no do it, we miss one and only chance at our mission."  
As he held his helmet in his hands, he seemed to nervously fumble with it slightly the more he went on. His tail wrapped around him slightly as he kept going, not waiting for you to even reply.  
"We need strike then, so we did. My mission was get ship and go. I bring karkat and friends along because all over galaxy we are help trolls flee, and so I have pick one group from his planet to save for sure. It be you guys!!! Каркат very nice, so I want bring him along! And he have many friends so I bring you too! More survive the better. It very important NO ONE knew about plan!!! Not even Каркат!!! If word get out then we may not be able to pull off way we did.. I very sorry I drag you all into this, but I rather not have more blood on hands then need be, you know?"  
His happy face has worn off at this point, and he's now looking at you with a guilty face as he thumbed at his helmet. You couldn't help but stare him in the eyes, although it doesn't help they were bright, pure, and red and yellow. Bright, eye catching colours. Even you have a darker colour for your one eye that makes it easier to look away, his are just colours that are naturally eye-catching. You hate it. After a moment of silence, you sigh softly and cross your arms. 

"fiine, okay, that2 beliievable, ii beliieve you."  
He smiles at you again and you roll your eyes and look away.  
"2o you're telliing me that now our whole galaxy ii2 at war."

"Да."

"and you have 2hiip2 that are helpiing other troll2 flee the war zone..."

"Да..!"

"and you are now fleeiing wiith u2...?"  
You raise an eyebrow at him. 

"...Да! I'm suppose to! We have at least one of us on every ship headed out! We have been study Milky Way as best as we can! We going to planet EARTH!"

"oh goodiie, who liive2 there?"

"Ах.... We uh... no know that... last time we checked, no one really there- but uh. Light take VERY long time to get here, so as far as we know there could be aliens there!!!! I not trained to do much past this point- bc we no know how train for unknown- but I have past training and that good enough! Right?"  
He gives you another nervous smile, and starts walking over to the main deck.  
"We stole blueprints of ship- and many much- eh- uh... information..! I know how to get us on course for earth- but this will never move fast enough if I don't set it in motion."  
You frown and follow him as he sits in the seat next to karkat, looking at him and giving him a little hair ruffle before setting the helmet in his lap. Karkat, in his sleep, held it to him. Thetta chuckled at that and turned to the controls, looking them over. 

"2et iit iin motiion..?"  
you cock an eyebrow at him and wonder what he means. You assume you mean he's going to use his powers to power the ship to go REALLY FAST for a second, just for some thrust. It IS space after all. 

"Да! I set path like this-"  
He pushed some buttons on the console and seemed to mess around for a bit before he course was properly set.  
"And then I use powers to make ship go ZOOM!"

"aren't you worriied of pu2hiing your2elf two hard?"

"Ах- uh... Н-Нет..? No, not really.. I work with my powers a lot- I rather do it then you do it. I no need you hurt self make it go fast."

"well, what iif you hurt your2elf? have you ever done 2tuff liike thii2 before?"  
You glare at him as he gets up and walks over to sort of the middle of the deck, by the window. He just shrugs at you, showing no fear. 

"Ееех- Нет. No I have not, but that no stop me."  
He turned to the window and put his hands out as he got ready to move the ship. You can feel his energy on the floor now, and probably on everything on the ship. You walk over to him and put a hand on him. You don't want him to hurt himself doing this, because you are unsure if he's hurt right now. You assume not, but you can't be sure. 

"okay what iif we both do iit. more power mean2 we go fa2ter, riight?"

"...Да! Okay, we do that then."  
Thetta grabbed your hand with a smile and looked at the bright dot in front of you, shutting his eyes and grabbing ahold of the ship with his powers. You know by now that people would SURELY be coming down here to see what's going on, so you decide to follow his lead, joining together for a hot minute to propel the ship with all your might. You could feel the air almost condense and become full of electricity, practically squeezing the air out of your lungs from just how much of his power he was putting into this. You just hold your breath and do the same before you both get knocked too the floor from it suddenly kicking into high gear. As you both slam into the ground at full force, you hear a painful crunch coming from Thetta, followed by a loud cry and some painful groans. You sit up instantly and look at him, your head spinning. He was turned over on his front, holding the back of his head and groaning. You notice that the back of his horns, where they had previously met and formed together, they were now broken, an orange-ish, clear sort of liquid forming where it was broken. It's probably good it got broken off, as the horns, had they kept growing like that, it would have grown right into his skull. You notice the horn piece that broke off and pick it up, staring at it. 

"uuuh- Thetta?"  
You turn it over in your hands as you notice something odd about it. There was a bullet lodged in the centre of his horns, stuck there. You feel like that would have been painful.  
"two thiing2..."  
You wait for a reply, but you get a muffled groan.  
"your horn2 broke."

"Да.."

"and ii found a bullet iin your horn2 where they met."

"Да, that why I grow them like that."  
You look over at him as he rolls onto his back and gets up, wiping the liquid off his horns and shaking it off his hand before rubbing it on his pants. You get up as well and watch as the star streaks disappeared, and you were on your way for Earth. Thetta puts a hand on you and smiles.  
"No worry, earth will be much better when we get there. Last we look there huge reptiles everywhere. This will be fun!"  
You look back at him semi-blankly. The other emotion on your face is rather confusing, even to him. He just gives you a pat and a reassuring grin. 

"YOOOOOOOO. WHO THE FUCK IS YOU!"  
You both turn around to see your- quote on quote "FRIEND" VRISKA pointing at Thetta. Everyone was standing behind her, confused. Nepeta looked very surprised to see him. Thetta put his arms in the air slowly, a grin still on his face, trying to keep the air friendly. 

"Я Тхетта Иумузи- I eh- My name Thetta Numuxi- And I the guy that stole this ship for you."  
He took a step forward, stopping when he saw the uneasiness still in all of them. 

":33< youre the man who took the queen head on! how are you alive?!"  
Nepeta stepped forward a bit, amazed that he was still alive. Thetta just chuckles a bit, waving a hand. 

"Oh that no problem, I had whole army protect me! I suppose to be on this ship, mission no work as well if I'm not on this ship."

")(ow many ot)(-ers -escaped..?"  
FEFERI stepped forward with a question as well. She's the NEXT IN LINE to be the empress, and VERY KIND. You and her are PRETTY CLOSE, but JUST FRIENDS, and will ALWAYS BE LIKE THAT. Her blood colour SORT OF PREVENTS YOU FROM WANTING TO BE TOO TERRIBLY CLOSE, not that there's ANYTHING WRONG with her blood colour, it's just that SHES MUCH STRONGER THAN YOU IN EVERY WAY and that's A LITTLE INTIMIDATING if you ever MADE HER MAD, but you haven't, WHICH YOU ARE VERY HAPPY ABOUT. Thetta gave her a sad look, rubbing his hands.  
"Ахахах, well... I no know how many- if any- made it out from home planet... I was sent here to make sure at least ONE group survive.... Well- no I sent on your planet to send information to colony resistance..! Our plans had to go faster than thought because something came up- but I completed half of my mission!!! I made sure all you made out alive, and I stole only ship empire had! We headed to nearest galaxy- to planet called EARTH. It very green planet that we able to live on! The sun should be okay for our eyes to see- but not directly of course. We able to be out at day- all us. We no sure what is on planet- as all images we have are very old... we have tech, but we limited by how fast light get to us from so far away.... On other colonies we have already started getting people off planet and to safe places- we have sent groups of people from everywhere to different planets to hopefully establish new- BETTER empire-"

"wwhat wwas wrong wwith the empire?"  
ERIDAN, a TOTAL IDIOT who is a HUGE ASSHOLE spoke up. You WISH HE DIDNT SAY THAT. Thetta glares at him and tries not to get too mad. 

"I think it VERY CLEAR what fuck wrong. Shut fuck up please, I explaining here. Sorry comrade, there just no room for moron on here, we have many thing to do and not lot time. So try smart up, k? K!"  
Thetta gives a grin and looks away from him. Eridan crosses his arms and pouts a little, but he could tell quite a few people agreed with Thetta. The empire wasn't great, and he agrees. You agree too. Vriska seems amused with Thetta now, he seemed to be apart of the group now. 

"i SaY wE kEeP tHe MoThErFuCkEr!"  
Gamzee said from near the back, helping TAVROS stand up, as he's PARALYZED FROM THE WAIST DOWN. He had a TERRIBLE ACCIDENT because Vriska IS A TOTAL BITCH. Tavros said that HE AGREES, but NO ONE REALLY LISTENS TO HIM. You feel bad about that from time to time, but you DONT SAY ANYTHING. 

"yeah, I don't see why we can't keep him."  
Vriska shrugs, seeming to have accepted that this strange man is there. TEREZI, a VERY STRANGE FRIEND, but a friend NONETHELESS, walks towards Thetta to get a better look at him- or in her case, since she's blind, a better smell. Because she can SMELL AND TASTE COLOUR, and because of that CHALK IS HER FAVOURITE SNACK. 

"W3LL 1 TH1NK H3S GO1NG TO B3 V3RY H3LPFUL!"  
Terezi's voice never was your favourite, it was sort of grating in your opinion. You could see a slight layer of uncomfortableness to Thettas face when she licked him and felt his face, but he seemed to try to be courteous and let her do her thing. 

"Хахаха- Спасибо! Thank you, Thank you!"  
You could hear his tail thump on the ground slightly. It was long, but he seemed to manage to have it around your feet and back near him. You assume this is because you are the second person he knows pretty well, and this is a lot of new people for him. You notice Karkat starting to wake up as everyone moved over to Thetta to check the stranger out for themselves. Vriska didn't seem interested in him anymore, rather more so the galaxy you are heading towards. 

Karkat stirrs awake, rubbing his eyes. He notices the helmet in his lap, gasping and jumping to his feet. A lot happens in a few seconds that you have a hard time comprehending. As Karkat jumps to his feet he screams for Thetta, startling him a little and making him whip his head over to him. EQUIUS, NEPETAS BEST FRIEND, AND MOIRAIL was looking at how Thettas horns had broken and were leaking a strange fluid. When he whipped his head to look at Karkat, Equius was poking at his horns softy, but the movement made him poke harder than he would have liked, hurting Thetta and making him accidentally trip you with his tail. You smacked the ground, having the wind knocked out of you. Karkat doesn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't care at the moment. He was too busy HUGGING THETTA because he THOUGHT HE HAD DIED. He promptly shouts Thetta out for scaring him like that. Gamzee is having a chuckle, and everyone else is just sort of amused. You decide to just stay on the floor as Thetta has to explain everything YET AGAIN. You feel like he's probably tired of that. You are tired yourself, very tired. Your head hurts and you're dizzy again. Maybe hitting your head so many times wasn't the best idea. You decide you can close your eyes for a second, since everyone is busy and the last man is finally accounted for. 

When you open your eyes again, Thetta and Karkat were standing around you. Thetta had been gently kicking you in the side to wake you up. As soon as you open your eyes he gives you his bright, goofy smile and lends you a hand to get up. You take it. 

"Хахаха, you fell asleep for a bit there, you tired? You should go rest, you know where the rooms are, да?"  
He had a hand on your shoulder, as if to make sure you could stand on your own. 

"yeah, of cour2e ii do."  
You shluff his hand off you and walk off to the main deck, where the door is.  
"iim really tiired, ii need two re2t for a whiile.."

"Да! Of course, you go rest up."  
He waves goodbye to you as you leave for the bedrooms, Karkat staying behind with him. You don't know how long you were out for, but everyone else seemed to be gone to do their own things now, as usual. With the five days you all have been aboard, you kept finding new rooms and places. You have no idea what sort of BULLSHIT MAGIC this ship MIGHT BE USING, but it's FREAKING YOU OUT A LITTLE. The hallways are quite dull, many places looking rushed. You were surprised with how badly the inside looked at times, you wondered just how much pressure the empire was under to finish this one and only ship they had. You wonder if this is actually their only ship. You hope so. You start to wonder if the empire is able to track this ship. You wouldn't doubt it, it sounds like something they would do. But, if they could, then that means you're dead. Because if this new resistance fails, every troll that escaped is going to face a punishment worse than death, and you DONT WANNA FIND OUT WHAT THAT COULD BE. If anything survives, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. As long as THEY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, you CANNOT ESCAPE. They will DRAG YOU BACK KICKING AND SCREAMING, and there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. They have been ruling this way FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN REMEMBER. They have STAMPED OUT RESISTANCE BEFORE, and WILL NOT HESITATE TO DO SO AGAIN. 

You have been MINDLESSLY WALKING AROUND for a while now, only NOW realizing that you are QUITE LOST. This happens A LOT. If you don't know where you're going, to seem to get VERY LOST, VERY QUICKLY. There is a door in front of you that looks sealed tight, but has a BIG, BLUE BUTTON that says OPEN. Wondering what could be inside, you look for any yellow line. There was none, so yo assume it's safe to open with no space suit. You open it up, and a wall of steam falls out of the room, clearing it up enough to see inside. This room looks finished, like the sleeping quarters. You hesitantly step inside, and you instantly feel the air become dense and moist, taking breaths was hard for you somewhat, and you DID DIDNT LIKE IT. You assume you just found the showers. You feel clean enough just stepping into ALL THIS MIST. You quickly step out and close the door. You DONT FEEL LIKE SHOWERING. You are tired, you want to SLEEP. You are finally able to relax a bit more than you could before now that Thetta is known to be alive. Everyone is on the ship and accounted for now, you can rest better. You won't admit that you were feeling that way, because you DONT ADMIT THINGS MUCH. You and Karkat share that in common, and that's why you are good friends, you assume. Your friendships are very wishy washy because of your HORRIBLE MOOD SWINGS. You don't like them yourself, really, and NOR DOES ANYONE ELSE. 

It took you a while because you kept getting lost in your thoughts and PROBABLY TAKING SOME WRONG TURNS, but you finally got to the room you claimed for yourself. The rooms are SORT OF FUNKY. They are a simple cubical to yourself with nothing but a WEIRD, SORT OF HARD SLAB to sleep on, A DRESSER with NOTHING IN IT, and a STRANGE CONSOLE on the wall that will LET YOU MAKE ITEMS, but at an ENERGY COST that gets replaced EACH DAY. You have 500 POINTS to spent on items EACH DAY and you have to USE IT WISELY. Vriska has been trying to HACK THE SYSTEM, but that's CLASSIC HER, and you rather just PLAY BY THE RULES. After all, your ship is the ONLY HABITABLE THING WITHIN LIGHTYEARS AMONG LIGHTYEARS. If you BREAK THE SHIP, you DIE because NONE OF YOU KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. You've tried to tell her this, but she DOESNT CARE. That's a theme among you guys, you just DONT CARE, even sometimes about things you SHOULD. Like trying to SURVIVE ON THIS SHIP WITH ONLY EACH OTHER. You were barely surviving with a HIVE TO YOURSELF, even if you were in A HUGE COMMUNITY HIVE. That's QUITE COMMON FOR GOLD BLOODS. But this ISNT ABOUT YOU, you're thinking about EVERYONE SURVIVING ON THE SHIP. You're sure Thetta KNOWS WHAT HES DOING, but you can't help but to worry a little bit. You worry quite a bit, but you WOULD NEVER ADMIT THAT. You don't like admitting to ANYTHING, no matter HOW SIMPLE. It makes you VERY UNCOMFORTABLE for some reason. You ARENT EXACTLY SURE WHY, but you DONT CARE. You don't have the energy to think about that right now. You climb onto your HARD SLAB that you MADE BETTER using A LOT OF BLANKETS. You chose to have most of them NOT THAT SPECIAL, but you HAD to see if you could PUT BEES ON ONE. You CAN, and you DID. You are SECRETLY PROUD OF YOURSELF, but you WONT ADMIT THAT EITHER. You get comfortable and go to bed, hopefully when you wake up, you WONT BE AS STRESSED.


	3. Working Hard, or Hardly Working?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the Russian spy.

Your name is THETTA NUMUXI, and you are from a SECRET COLONY OF TROLLS that decided to BREAK FREE FROM CONTROL. You're NOT LIKE MOST TOLLS, BECAUSE OF THAT VERY REASON. You have MANY FEATURES that are different, BUT YOU HIDE THEM WELL. You HAD TO because you were SENT TO LIVE ON ALTERNIA AS A SPY, and to SEND BACK AS MUCH INFO AS YOU COULD. Because of this, you TEND TO BE REALLY CURIOUS, and REALLY LIKE LEARNING NEW THINGS. You HYPERFIXATE ON THINGS A LOT, and you have A LOT OF INTERESTS, but some SPECIAL INTERESTS that you LIKE A LOT MORE THAN THE REST. Like you know MORE THAN THE AVERAGE TROLL ON THOSE SUBJECTS. You just REALLY ENJOY THEM and they MAKE YOU HAPPY. Among your MANY INTERESTS, are ALMOST EVERY KIND OF SCIENCE, DRAMA AND ACTING, and COMPUTERS. Though your FAVOURITE KIND OF SCIENCE is ALCHEMY, and other ANCIENT SCIENCES LIKE THAT. You have a GREAT FASCINATION FOR THE PAST so you don't REPEAT HISTORY. You have been SPECIALLY TRAINED by the HIDDEN COLONY via a SECRET MASSIVE NETWORK THAT ONLY MEMBERS KNOW HOW TO GET INTO. You had MANY FRIENDS ON THERE, but now that you are HURDLING INTO SPACE TO THE NEXT GALAXY OVER, you NO LONGER HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH THEM. You were told THIS WOULD HAPPEN, and you have been PREPARING YOURSELF FOR THIS EVER SINCE. You know TOO MANY DETAILS AND SECRETS to be able to DIE OR BE CAUGHT ON THE BATTLEFIELD, so YOU WERE SENT TO MAKE A NEW COLONY SO TROLLS CAN CONTINUE TO EXIST. Although they NEED PURE TROLLS in order to MAKE SURE THE NEXT GENERATION AT LEAST LOOKS MORE LIKE YOU AGAIN and NOT MORE MONSTEROUS. On your HOME PLANET with the COLONY, your MOTHER GRUB was GENETICALLY MADE, so all the trolls that came out were A BIT DIFFERENT, and had A LOT MORE MUTATIONS. Some had FOUR ARMS and MANY EYES. There were NEW KINDS OF BLOOD MUTANTS and the colony has been STUDYING ALL ITS MEMBERS to see WHAT WENT SO WRONG. Because SO MANY OF YOU ARE MUTATED, MUTANTS ARE NOT CULLED. You CANNOT FATHOM WHY YOU WOULD CULL A TROLL AT BITTH, because your colony REFUSES TO DO SO, because they INSIST ON FINDING A USE FOR EVERYONE. You were ONE OF THE MOST PURE TROLLS THAT HAD BEEN MADE THERE, so they HAD TO SEND YOU TO DO THIS JOB. You DONT ACTUALLY MIND THOUGH, because you LIKE BEING USEFUL. 

You are SELF TAUGHT in everything, because you were the only one SENT TO LIVE ON ALTERNIA, and all you had was VIDEOS FROM THE MASSIVE NETWORK. Luckily for you, everyone is PRETTY MUCH FRIENDLY TOWARDS EACH OTHER because of how the colony was SET UP AND RUN. It has BROKEN DOWN THE BLOOD BASED SYSTEM, and made it BASED ON WHAT YOUR JOB IS. EVERYONE is treated equal and is GIVEN A JOB EQUAL TO WHAT THEY CAN DO. Over all you find it's a WELL OILED MACHINE, and the FREEDOM OF KNOWLEDGE probably helped that. If you are honest, YOU DIDNT LIKE BEING ON ALTERNIA. Karkat was pretty much your ONLY FRIEND YOU KNEW WOULD BE ABLE TO STICK AROUND, and you HAD TO BE VERY SECRETIVE. You really HATE KEEPING SECRETS, it feels REALLY WRONG. You like TELLING THE TRUTH, and when you can't you get VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. Although you have NO CONTACT WITH YOUR COLONY ANYMORE, you still have a VERY HARD TIME BEING TOO PERSONAL WITH THE GROUP YOU SAVED. You feel you CANNOT BE TOO CLOSE until you have completed ALL YOUR TASKS, which there is MANY. 

It has been A FEW WEEKS since you GOT ON THE SHIP, and ever since you have been WORKING NON STOP. They told you, you HAD TO do this first before you could RELAX, otherwise it MIGHT COME BACK YO HAUNT YOU. That's been PUT INTO YOUR HEAD ALOT, so you ALWAYS HAVE A LOT ON YOUR MIND. It can be very STRESSFUL, but you're not the one it's MOST STRESSFUL ON. You assume pretty much EVERYONE has had at least ONE MENTAL BREAK DOWN ALREADY, and you think that's KINDA SAD, but you DONT BLAME THEM. You are JUST HOLDING YOURSELF TOGETHER because you HAVE TO WORK MORE BEFORE YOU CAN REST. Your friend Karkat has said you should TAKE MORE BREAKS because your horns GROWING BACK gives you a headache pretty much ALL DAY. You DONT CARE THOUGH, and INSIST YOU KEEP WORKING. You feel TOO MANY LIVES DEPEND ON YOU GETTING THIS DONE. If the resistance fails and the empire TRACKS WHERE YOU ARE, not only WILL YOU BE A DEAD MAN WALKING, you would have ENDANGERED A WHOLE PLANET OF POSSIBLE HYPER-SENTIENT BEINGS LIKE YOU. The thought of YOU KILLING ALL THOSE PEOPLE INADVERTENTLY makes you REALLY UPSET, and it's what's been keeping you up for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT, working on the ship. The first week was OUTSIDE WORK, which was VERY HARD and VERY STRESSFUL. You AREN'T FOND OF THE VOID OF SPACE BECAUSE OF THIS. This week has been INSIDE REPAIRS, and it has been the HARDEST. The first week was VERY CHAOTIC, but this week has been A LOT MORE STRAIGHT FORWARD. You had to do A LOT OF MATH in the first week as you CALCULATED HOW TO USE THE 500 POINTS EVERYONE HAS to SURVIVE THROUGH THIS LONG TRIP. You also had to MAKE SURE THE SYSTEM HASN'T BEEN TRACKING YOU AND WHAT YOU MAKE AT ALL. You also had to find out how the ship was MAKING THE ITEMS. You found out it was using EXTRA POWER it DIDN'T NEED that was left over JUST TO MAKE THINGS. You had to do a few things first, but you got it to PRODUCE FOOD so you guys WOULDN'T STARVE. You have also had to get them to sacrifice points to help with repairs so you DONT GET TRACKED AND DIE. They all seem to agree that it's a GOOD IDEA NOT TO BE TRACKED. 

You have been working tirelessly on one of the UNFINISHED HALLWAYS, as it was ON THE LIST OF THINGS TO DO. You have the BLUEPRINTS OF THE SHIP and A LOT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IT that helps you DO WHAT YOU DO. A few people like SOLLUX, EQUIUS, and even GAMZEE have offered to help at times, but you have KINDLY DECLINED ALL THE HELP, insisting that you DO IT YOURSELF. You REALLY LIKE BEING INDEPENDENT, as it's seen as a REALLY GOOD THING in the colony, and THATS WHY YOU WERE CHOSEN FOR THIS JOB. You always did VERY WELL WITH GETTING TASKS DONE FOR THEM. 

You have been THINKING TO YOURSELF for QUITE A LONG TIME, like you USUALLY DO. You try to be open with your NEW FRIENDS, but the one and only thing you still refuse to talk about was WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE SHIP LEFT. Quite a few people KEEP ASKING, but you ARENT READY TO THINK ABOUT IT YET. You have AT LEAST A FEW MONTHS ON THIS SHIP, you want to MAKE IT THROUGH THAT FIRST. Despite your best efforts to stay SORT OF OUT OF EVERYTHING, you CANT HELP BUT GET ATTACHED VERY EASILY. You've noticed that the cat lady, or NEPETA you believe it is, is REALLY INTO SHIPPING, and sadly you don't mean BOATS. You will admit to yourself that YES, you HAVE snooped through everyone's things at one point, and you feel sort of guilty about that, but you CANT HELP YOURSELF BUT PURSUE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE. You have found what seem to be SHIPPING CHARTS inside Nepeta's room. A lot seem to be from BEFORE YOU WERE AROUND, but you also saw some WITH YOU ON IT. This is SORT OF UNNERVING TO YOU, but you think you like the SENTIMENTAL VALUE THAT THE ACTION HOLDS. You THINK. You are A LITTLE GLAD FOR THEM THOUGH, because they LET YOU KNOW RELATIONS AND HOW THEY HAVE CHANGED AN EVOLVED. You know most of the ships ARENT TRUE, but you still MANAGE TO FIND GOOD INFO FROM IT ALL. You find that SHE PROBABLY DOESNT THINK YOU ARE CAPABLE OF STRONG HATE, but if you DID, it would PROBABLY BE TOWARDS ERIDAN. While yo DONT DISAGREE WITH THAT, you don't really AGREE WITH IT, because you DONT LIKE HATING PEOPLE. Even if they are STUCK UP, RUDE, and RATHER UNPLEASANT OVER ALL. Hate towards FELLOW COMRADES is HIGHLY FROWNED UPON, and you're usually expected to WORK THINGS OUT. It's been that way for so long that EVERYONE SORT OF JUST ENFORCED THAT RULE THEMSELVES. You ENJOY THAT, but you don't believe ANY SOCIETY WILL BE A PERFECT HAVEN FOR ALL. You just don't think it's possible from EVERYTHING YOUVE SEEN AND RESEARCHED. And with this group of friends you have hitched with, you think it's going to take A LOT OF WORK before they will ALL GET ALONG. VRISKA IN PARTICULAR gives you some NASTY VIBES, especially with how NOSEY SHE IS. You DONT WANT TO TELL HER ANYTHING, but she WANTS TO KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT YOU. Usually you would find that ENDEARING, but you just DONT LIKE HER VIBES. Not at all. You've had QUITE A FEW PEOPLE TELL YOU THEY FEEL THE SAME, like KARKAT AND SOLLUX, and you think GAMZEE AS WELL, but you dont know how to feel about HALF OF WHAT HE SAYS, because you have a HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING HIM. Then again, he can't really UNDERSTAND YOU EITHER. When you get talking a lot, you use MORE AND MORE RUSSIAN, and LESS ENGLISH. You feel like it's a BAD HABIT, even though it's your NATIVE TOUNGE. You have TAKEN TIME TO HANG OUT with some of them between working, like TAVROS, who you found was REALLY INTO A STRANGE GAME CALLED FUEDOSPAWN- or SOMETHING LIKE THAT. you have GREAT DIFFICULTY WITH ENGLISH AT TIMES, and your accent is VERY THICK. You have PLAYED IT A FEW TIMES WITH HIM, but DONT QUITE LIKE THE CONCEPT. You find it A LITTLE CRUEL, but you TRY NOT TO SAY THAT. You know it SHOWS ON YOUR FACE, because you are VERY EXPRESSIVE. You found SOME COMMON GROUND with the SEA DWELLERS on the pure fact YOU ARE SEMI-AQUATIC. Your LUSUS was a SNAKE AND A SALAMANDER IN ONE WEIRD COMBINATION, and because GRUBS OF YOUR KIND GROW TO BE SORT OF SIMILAR TO THEIR LUSUS, you are PRETTY OKAY AT SWIMMING, and EXCELLENT FOR A LOW BLOOD. Or what Alterenia CALLS low bloods. You find that an insulting term. You don't like spending TOO MUCH TIME with the sea dwellers, mostly because you DONT LIKE ERIDANS TUDE, and sometime wish you could SMACK SOME SENSE INTO HIM. But you WONT, because that would be rude. 

You have been lost in your thoughts for a while, and that's not a good thing because you are WORKING, but you are REALLY TIRED. You sort of wish you had your POWER DAMPENING HELMET you made yourself so you can SLEEP EASY ANYWHERE YOU ARE, but the first time, and the last time you tested it on yourself it EXPLODED and made you BLIND FOR MONTHS. You also had to SLOWLY GAIN YOUR POWETS BACK AFTER THAT, and THATS WHY YOU ARE SO GOOD WITH IT. You can BASICALLY USE YOUR POWERS TO SEE, even if you can BARELY USE THEM. But YOU CAN SEE NOW, so that's ALL OKAY. You STAND UP FROM YOUR WORK AND SIGH. Your thoughts are too all over the place to be able to keep working, you need a small break. After all, you're pretty much done. You are probably hearing things, but you DONT CARE- or at least DIDNT. You have a VARIETY OF TOOLS AND BLUESPRINTS with you to HELP FIX IT. You wipe your forehead and bend back down to finish your current work before taking a break, you have to finish this. 

As you finish reattaching the last wire, all the power suddenly cuts. This however, DOES NOT STOP YOU FROM MOVING. It simply makes it PITCH BLACK AND COLD AS FUCK. You stare off into the dark for a second before letting out a frustrated scream and sobbing while using your eyes for light. You're tired and frustrated because you DID SOMETHING WRONG. You easily fix it and the power comes back on. Crisis averted. You close the panel up and grab all your stuff, walking over to the COMMAND DECK. Because that we basically like a HARD RESTART ON THR SHIP, you have to REDO SOME SETTINGS. Luckily, you got there before the MAIN SYSTEMS COULD REBOOT, so you can OVERRIDE IT with your own. The HARD RESTART was actually KIND OF HELPFUL, because now you can make it run the system your colony gave you to its FULLEST EXTENT, and should BE HARDER TO FIND NOW, EVEN FOR THEM. You have NO CONTACT with your colony anymore, you're on your own, and you will never know if the war was won or lost. And it's not up to you to know, not in this life time at least. Your purpose is to get your liv by cargo safely to a new planet to live on. You had to take a chance with this planet, but based on the life you were able to observe, you were able to conclude it should be livable. Again, the life when you get there could be totally different, or totally gone. You don't expect to get there and see large reptiles, but you would still love to see that.  
You sit down in one of the chairs, sitting back as you watched the dot you were focused on get ever so slowly bigger. That's the galaxy of salvation, and you have no idea of what awaits. It could be the same as your galaxy for all you know, you could be hurdling towards your death for all you're concerned about. This could be a dead mans mission and as soon as you get spotted, you could be blasted to bits, you just DONT KNOW. You have no idea what's down there, and you keep telling everyone that you don't know what's there, but that it's not home because home is too dangerous right now. They still all trust you, and you don't know how to feel about that. 

You lean back in the chair more and rest an elbow on the arm rest, putting your head in your palm and zoning out on the dot some more. You had to sit to accommodate your rather long tail, but you DONT MIND THAT. You quite like your tail, really. It helps you EXPRESS and also helps you SWIM. You have A FEW ODD THINGS no one has noticed yet. The ship is RATHER DARK, because TROLLS SEE BETTER IN THE DARK, but YOU ARE ADJUSTED FOR DARK DARK AND BRIGHT LIGHT. Unlike a trolls, your eyes are SLITS like a CAT, but because trolls live in DARKNESS, they are usually BIG PUPILS that blend in with the trolls. Your feet are also MORE LIKE PAWS than a normal troll, but NO ONE NEEDS TO SEE YOUR PEETS, because THATS NOT A NORMAL SOCIETAL THING TO DO, unless it is a FETISH. Feet are feet, nothing special or something you think are REALLY COOL. You rather people not look at your feet actually, you find that weird. You also seem to have REALLY SHARP CLAWS for a "LOW BLOOD", and you have to TRIM THEM A LOT. Like your horns, they TEND TO GROW A LOT. Speaking of your horns, they have FINALLY GROWN POINTS AGAIN. You had to get EQUIUS to brake your horns again because they DIDN'T BREAK EVENLY. He DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO JUST IN CASE GE HURT YOU, but you INSISTED HE DO IT, because if your horns AREN'T PERFECT you will SCREAM. Not really, but you REALLY NEED THEM TO BE or else it will DRIVE YOU MENTAL. Your eyes get really heavy as you stare ahead, zoning off into your thoughts. You're taking a leap into the dark for some strangers, all because you were trained for this very moment. You're not sad about being trained, you think you had plenty of childhood. You were really happy, you still are. You're just... Worried, unsure. Tired. 

You open your eyes, and it's obvious that you had fallen asleep. You're not sure how long, but you assume a while. Maybe a handful of hours, if hours were little animal figures in a bucket, that you could just grab and toss onto your floor. You glance beside you and spot your friend, Sollux sitting in the other chair. He seemed to have been there for a bit, but how long you aren't sure yet. He had found a way to access the information you had loaded into the ship, it all came packed on the stick that you shoved into it, which also held the operating system you're suppose to use for the space craft. Sollux was watching a hologram of the planet EARTH changing throughout the decades, and what we thought the timeline is, up until what they could find out until the war broke loose. He seemed to be just watching it, interested. You didn't say anything for a bit, you were too busy starting at Sollux and how the blue light lit up his face. You just really liked light, it could be really pretty. You were more so fixating on how the light looked and the colour it was making. Though you're still tired and can't really see 20/20 yet. Sol had must have felt you staring at him, because he spoke up. 

"2o thii2 ii2 where we're goiing, huh?"  
He spun the globe a little, watching it slowly stop spinning as the animation still played. His 3D glasses were on, but you could still see his eyes from this angle. He looked sort of tired. You just nod your head and sit up, stretching.  
"look2 real niice, doe2nt iit? you got lucky gettiing thii2 planet."  
He looked at you, his face in a tired frown. You look back at the hologram and just nod. 

"Да, I suppose so.. It nice little planet, really."  
You say that as the animation hits an ice age suddenly. You both tiredly chuckle at that, you more so than him.  
"When it not freeze over that is..."  
You yawn and look at him with a grin, trying to be reassuring.  
"but no worry, if it freeze, I know what do, хехех.. no worry."  
You pat him on the shoulder and look off into space again. He pulled up pictures of the LARGE CREATURES that you were able to get bad photos of. They slowly got clearer, but by the time they were clear enough to really see much important details, the previous animals seemed to be dead already. You looked between him and the images. You don't think the images are all that important, after all, those won't exist by the time they get there, it'll be something new. No way those things will stay like that forever. Sollux seemed to think they are cool though. You guess they are neat, and to have seen them would have been nice, but you have something nothing on that planet will have: real pictures of those things. You bet you could probably start or end a war with those images.  
"You know, those no be there when we get there. Light take so long to travel, we see back on time basically. Every star is sky is just really old light that make way to you eye VERY SLOWLY. We no see universe in real time unless you sorta there. If we get into technics- then really no see in real time at all, but we no want get down that road. We be here for a while in debate that end in 'is water wet?'" I really do not care about that argument. Nor any for that matter.."

"yeah, yeah, ii get you troll eiin2tiine... ii know the2e won't be there, iit2 ju2t cool two thiink about. you 2aw 2omethiing happeniing that happened- who know2 how long ago, and here iit ii2- for u2 two look at. iit2 a piicture of the pa2t whiile beiing iin the pre2ent."

"Да- yes, it is cool when you put that way. I never think of it like that before.. but it best we no show any intelligent eh- uh..."  
You stumble a bit on your words and have to think, forgetting the word you want. 

"creature2?"

"Eh- да, sure. we no want cause any turmoil. we no have enough weapons to take down whole planet. we just some kid dumbasses on our way to flee from war."

"a war you were a proxy iin- 2orta."

"Мммм... ааах... ддда? Yeah- I suppose you say that, yes..."

"well diid you ever really have a choiice?"

"Eh- нет, no. I did not get much choice in my matter, it okay because I no mind this, it eh-.... fun in weird way."

"you 2ure?"

"Да, why would I not be?"

"oh well you know, u2ually not haviing a choiice iin a biig, very important decii2iion fuck2 a guy up. iif you're born iintwo a de2tiiny you never wanted, iit tend2 two-"  
You sigh and pat him, cutting him off. 

"Да, да, I sorry that I drag you all in this, I wish I able to do it any other way then just so sudden and abrupt like this, but it really only possibly this way. If it done any other way you might have got hurt, and I no want blood on hands. No blood that no need be on them."  
Sollux slides your hand off him and scrunches his face up, almost offended. You give him a really confused look at his reaction, a little worried about if you said something horribly wrong. 

"no- iim not talkiing about u2 dumba22. iim talkiing about you. 2o far all you've really told me make2 me beliieve that beiing rai2ed two do thii2 aiint very fuckiing pretty."  
You are almost shocked. You don't get what he means, you had a very happy life! You weren't forced into it all that much! You never had to save people, you could have stayed the messenger man, you never had to play hero. You never had to do this, but you did it because you just DIDNT FEEL LIKE DYING. So they said OKAY, and sent you off to SAVE PEOPLE. Plus you are a VERY GOOD WARROR you've been told, so having SOMEONE LIKE YOU OUT HERE is VERY GOOD. You just felt like you FIT CLEANLY INTO THIS JOB. 

"Что? What ever you mean????? I never force into this! I want do this! I fit this job well. I rather not die back there so I do this! I have option I take it! How that be force? Empire force you go military when you adult! I no see how mine any worse here??"  
You give him a confused look, but he still seems a little upset. 

"yeah don't you 2ee that? you had two choiice2: one? liive and take 2tanger2 iintwo 2pace two 2tart a new liife, or two, diie there whiile fiightiing tryiing two 2ave a planet you were never meant two be on."

"Sol- sh. I get what you mean, but you no understand, if empire expand past that galaxy, we have LOST. The second she get to this galaxy we go to? It GAME OVER. You no get that!"  
You put your hands on his shoulders and stare him in the eyes.  
"If she wiggle her way out of our grasp, everyone doom. You see how she treat own people! Imagine she get out to even FARTHER REACHES. what next from one galaxy? ДВА GALAXY- ТРИ ГАЛАКТИКА! If she get any more power we would have cross line from being able to save selves! We had to do this! And even if I no do this, someone else WOULD  
HAVE. And I rather do it self! I WILLINGLY do this, it what I do! I know just how much at stake. I know LOT INFO. If I become prisoner of war it no end well for me, I know that. Stop worry so much, let me do that."  
You pat his cheek and stand up, yawning. He stands up as well and steps over to you. 

"Thetta, you don't even know what's waiitiing for u2 over there. You know nothiing pa2t thii2 poiint and you are 2TIILL doiing iit anyway2. ii do get how dead we are. iif the empiire even get2 a whiiff of where we are, we are dead men. iif thii2 war doe2nt end well, the empiire wiill be even more ruthle22 than before and iit really wiill be all over. ii KNOW thii2, tru2t me. iit ju2t bug2 me how you got dragged iintwo thii2 me22- how we ALL DIID-"  
You grab his face and smoosh it, showing him all those teeth in your usual friendly fashion that everyone has gotten used to. 

"I said NO WORRY. Не волнуйся, ты в порядке. You are FINE."  
You slide your hands to his shoulders and giggle at him softly before taking them off.  
"Everything is fine, you really need to stop worrying. You and you friends are in great hands, trust in me my little comrade!"  
You can tell that calling him little made him a little angry, but he seems to move past it.  
"All I need is you trust, nothing more. Just trust me here."  
You both stare for a bit before he sighs. 

"okay, ii tru2t you. you obviiou2ly know what you're doiing- two a degree. but our liive2 are iin your hand2, don't forget."  
He walked away a little angrily, but you felt like it wasn't truly anger. 

"No worry, I no forget."  
You really don't forget, it's always on your mind.


	4. Fishy Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan goes to take a shower before a planned communal dinner, but finds that he has a buddy there with him by accident.

Your name is ERIDAN AMPORA, you are a SEA DEWLER and we're born INTO ROYALTY BECAUSE OF YOUR HOME PLANETS OBSESSION WITH BLOOD COLOUR. Because of this fact, you are KIND OF AN ASSHOLE, because YOU WERE RAISED TO BE ONE. With a SILVER SPOON IN YOUR MOUTH AT BIRTH, it would have been DAMN WELL NEAR IMPOSSIBLE to NOT GROW UP THE WAY YOU DID. It probably also DIDNT HELP THAT YOUR PLANET HAD ONLY KIDS. Any and ALL ADULTS would be sent off to work in the queens army. Because of your blood colour, you were probably going to be a WAR GENERAL or something like that. You were SORT OF EXCITED FOR THAT, as it sounded FUN, but now that will NEVER HAPPEN. You are stuck on a SPACE SHIP THATS IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE, heading REALLY FUCKING FAST towards EARTH, a new planet in a NEW GALAXY, as your old one is AT WAR NOW. You never thought that you would be FLEEING FROM WAR, but NOT EVERYTHING GOES THE WAY YOU THINK IT WILL. Hurdling through space with your friends and a STRANGER isn't how you thought you would spend KARKATS BIRTHDAY, OR ANY DAY AFTER THAT. You are sure you will NEVER SEE HOME AGAIN, and that MAKES YOU KIND OF SAD. You hope your LUSUS IS OKAY, but at this point, you assume that EVERYONE ON THE PLANET SHOULD BE DEAD BY NOW, as you ARENT THERE TO KILL LUSI FOR FEFERIS LUSUS TO EAT. Because she's TOO PASSIVE to do it herself, and NOT WANTING TO DIE, OR ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS, you TOOK IT UPON YOURSELF TO FEED IT, as IF YOU DIDNT, when her lusus started to speak, it would FOR SURE KILL ALL THE TROLLS FROM LOWEST BLOOD TO HIGHEST. You sort of FEEL BAD for having to do that, BUT A FEW LUSUSLESS TROLLS IS BETTER THAN MANY DEAD ONES. You suppose in that sense, you ARENT THAT BAD, because you could have VERY WELL FORCED HER TO DO IT HERSELF, but a KIND QUEEN IS A GOOD QUEEN. You think. All you know is that YOU HAD TO DO WHAT YOU HAD TO DO. Proud of your actions or not, you have NO IDEA how you could have done it otherwise. You HAD TO DO IT. You HAD TO KILL THOSE LUSI, there was NO OTHER WAY to keep it fed without GIVING FEF SHIT AND FORCING HER TO DO IT HERSELF. Not like you EVER WANT TO FORCE THAT ON HER. That would be THE WORST THING TO DO. Even you have STANDARDS. You rather KILL THAN MAKE YOUR FRIENDS DO IT. You know the position you're in LETS YOU DO KILL WITHOUT MUCH BACKLASH. So despite some of your urges, YOU WONT ACTUALLY HURT ANY TROLL TOO BADLY. You rather not hurt people if you DONT HAVE TO, but your status and reputation is SORT OF HARD TO KEEP WHEN YOU ARENT THE RUTHLESS ASSHOLE EVERYONE CALLS YOU. You THINK you're not that asshole. You. HOPE you're not that asshole. You really do. 

The last few weeks on the ship have been VERY TENSE, with everyone getting angry at each other, or BREAKING DOWN. You have been TRYING TO STAY OUT OF IT FOR THE MOST PART, because you already know you're not ENTIRELY WELCOME THERE, but you're probably liked MORE THAN VRISKA. You ARENT NOSEY, but just WHINEY AND DESPERATE for love and affection. Not knowing WHAT TO DO or HOW TO ACT ANYMORE, you like to stay in the POOL ROOM, which isn't THAT BIG, and probably ONLY THERE FOR SEA DWELLERS, and you also like to hang out IN THE SHOWERS, because it's VERY MISTY AND FOGGY IN THERE, WARM, and HAS A WARM TUB IN THE VERY BACK. You think that this room is the main water recycling room, and this is where it's all kept until it's used. There's an AVAILABLE WATER LEVEL in the room, and a BENCH SO YOUR STUFF DOESNT GET WET AND YOU DONT NEED TO WALK AROUND STARK NAKED. You REALLY LIKE THE SHOWERS because you find it EASY TO BREATHE IN THERE because of your GILLS THAT LET YOU BREATHE UNDER WATER. You also love how WARM IT IS IN THERE. You like to SPEND HOURS IN THE WARM TUB and THINK TO YOURSELF. In fact, you are HEADING TOWARDS THE SHOWERS RIGHT NOW. You were in the main room everyone set up to HANG OUT IN so no one is WANDERING OFF TOO FAR and so you can all TALK WHENEVER. You believe it would be called a COMMON ROOM. 

You are walking down the hall with your clothes in your arms and a towel around you, stopping at the sealed door leading to the showers. How this ship works is a mystery to you, but you wouldn't doubt its VERY COMPLICATED. You hit the OPEN button and walk right in, putting your clothes and towel down on the bench as the door closes behind you, feeling the water already stick to your skin and the air warm you up. Water droplets cling to your gills, making you feel like you're getting a lot more air than others would had they been in here. Though if there is someone in here, you wouldn't be able to tell because of how foggy it is. 

"..Hullo?"  
Thettas voice speaks out from the haze, calling out to whoever is there. You freeze and stare at where the voice came from. You thought you were alone. 

"oh- I didn't knoww you wwere in here. I can lea-"  
Before you could finished you were cut off by him laughing and talking again. 

"Нет, нет!!! Stay, we all trolls here, not like we have bulges that hang out you know, now that be awkward!"  
He laughed again, seeming to be amused.  
"Please, shower. No one like smelly fish!"  
He laughed again, still covered by the foggy ass room. You nervously laugh with him, putting your glasses down on the bench and walking over to a shower head. As you stand under it, you notice Thetta at the one beside you, washing himself. Your eyes go wide as you notice his back. It had a large fin on it that looks like it can lower itself flat on his back. Now that you're closer, you can notice that his tail has very smooth skin, different skin than the rest of it on him, skin that traveled from his tail to his shoulders. It was smooth, a greenish-yellow-grey with yellow spots and stripes. It looked like the skin of a semi-aquatic creature. A SALAMANDER if you will. The fin on his back was stiff, and adorned with traits you might see on a poisonous fish (you remember fef telling you how poisonous fish's fins were sort of spiked in a way). You think that it would have to be for stability in the water. You think he must be a strong swimmer for a GOLD BLOOD, seeing as he has an unusually BEEFY BUILD. His shoulders were A LOT WIDER THAN SOLS, but Sol was NEVER THAT BIG ANYWAYS. Thetta is just MUCH BIGGER THAN HIM. Though you cannot see his muscles, he is clearly got them from the way his body looks. You assume if he flexed, you would see it, but he's relaxed so he just looks like a bearish-hunk, if you had to describe him in that way. You know you can say this from looking at him from behind, because of his arms. They aren't really defined, but you know from how large they are, that he's loaded. You figure it's because of all those years of training to fight- and also fighting. You yourself aren't that big, more like a twunk you suppose, though your arms are defined, mostly from how strong you need to be to hold your gun and fire it. You are usually sent sliding back from how powerful it can be. But no matter how strong that gun is, you are just naturally small in body. You aren't short, you're quite tall. Thetta is as well actually, you've noticed he's taller than Sollux, but you aren't sure how much really is his puffy hair and large horns. 

Speaking of horns, your eyes trail up to his head, looking his. They were growing back quickly, you think they have formed points now. Though you haven't seen him around for a bit, so you aren't sure if he had them when you saw him last. Though now that his hair is soaking wet and laying flat on him, you can see that he is quite tall, but the hair and horns do make him seem bigger. You thought you should have noticed that sooner, but you don't like assuming. Gamzee has big ass hair and horns and he's tall as fuck, as that's sort of the same thing here. You notice one last thing that you found odd. The grub scars on him are more in the middle of his torso, suggesting that the middle legs didn't grow with the body, rather staying where they were relative of to the space originally between them. 

You look away from Thetta and turn the water on, glancing back at him. He was putting soap in his hair, rubbing it in. As you stand under the hot fall of water landing on you, you take a breath before making a comment. 

"your fin... does it wwork?"  
You silently curse at yourself, knowing that's a dumb question. Thetta just laughs and nods, looking back at you. 

"Да, it does work, and да, I'm somewhat aquatic, more than you think. I no breathe water but I hold breath very well. Swim really well too. Что, this make me higher somehow? Does this make me higher in you eyes? You seem like you like old system because you benefit from it..."  
You look back at Thetta, being caught off guard to suddenly see him with pupils. His eyes weren't glowing or their normal pure colours, they looked like a normal trolls, but instead of orange, they were just the normal colours of his eyes. He stared at you sort of annoyed, still butthurt about what you said, you suppose. You look away, trying not to make eye contact with him. 

"Look, Thetta-"  
You inhale a little and bite your lip, looking back at him.  
"I'm sorry for the comment."  
You aren't sure what you're doing, but being in a shower with him and talking seriously is making you feel a little exposed. He seems completely okay with it, and isn't looking anywhere but your eyes. He just doesn't seem to care about nudity. You feel paranoid though, afraid, like you're being stared at, judged, like he could, and would take you on. This all feels unnatural, you've always showered alone, did everything ALONE. You've always been alone, this is all new and strange, you barely knew this man but he treats you like one of his comrades.  
"I don't see you much different, I swwear. I'm just.. a little surprised? Ivve nevver seen a lowwblood wwith- aquatic features like you.. the tail is jarring enough."  
You look away and cross your arms, not sure what to say. This is a bit awkward. 

"Mmhm, да, okay..."  
He looks away from you as well and huffs.  
"Listen. We all stuck here, and we all need get along. I know that it must be weird to be in you position, to be raise to be asshole, and look down on fellow troll... I no really get it, as I not raise that way. Being apart of two cultures can be weird."  
He looked back at you, making you look back at him as well.  
"But you no longer home. And it take while to rebrand self- but you can do it. You don't seem mean, just desperate and confused. You no have many... close friend, do you?"  
You just look away and shake your head. You don't like how personal this is getting, but your talking and being talked to, and it's kinda nice. 

"no... I don't havve many friends. not that I make myself vvery easy to be friends wwith.."  
There's shelf holding soap and hair products. You just get yourself soaked before washing yourself. 

"It help if you try to learn about other person. Talk to them like you care about them. You not home anymore, you can look past the blood and see that we all same, really. I more different, but we still same. It like... AI. From which point we have accept that AI is now human too? When do you draw line between fake life and real life? When you draw line between okay life and not okay? Where do rights start and end?"  
You both just stand in silence for a bit as he let you think. You weren't sure how to answer, you just. Stared off and tried to think about it. After a while he would start talking again.  
"To go back on everything you stand for is hard, but when it to be better, it one of bravest think you can do, especially when you fear what people think. It sooo so so hard, I know, but trust me when I say when you try, it worth it. It really is. It not worth it to sink with your ship, admit when wrong is very good, make people think you try to get better, because that what it mean. You admit when wrong so you don't always go down with ship and burn bridge."

"but wwhat if youvve hurt others? wwhat do you do then?"  
You look back at him, trying to give whatever he's trying to do a shot. If he wants to talk about you this much, you'll let that happen.  
"wwhat happens wwhen people are angry at you?"

"What you do? Well that depend on how hurt they are and if they want forgive you. All you can do is better you self and keep going. Wallowing in mistakes no fixes them, you learn and keep going. It harder the worse you fuck up, but wallowing really no help if that all you do. Wallow, sure, just move on after. You can't cry all time."  
There was another silence, only filled by the sound of the two showers. You eventually sigh and try to fill it, seeing as Thetta isn't. 

"yeah, I suppose you're right.. howw do you knoww so much??"  
That's a rather dumb question you feel, but if it's anyone that will treat you good for trying to be good, it's going to be this... You aren't sure how to describe him at the moment. 

"Хахах, I very curious. I like learn. It encouraged at colony to explore everything and find what you like and what you good at. I just liked so much that I gathered lot of knowledge about some things. I work lot with people, pulling strings so that I can stay unseen. Like... spider with huge web. But I only one spider on web of many. It... complicated. I had use many cards so I can help Karkat but stay safe while do so. It's when I get face to face that I drop the strings and put up fists. I have learn to live with no powers, just in case. I can't be surprised now, it's important I'm fully prepared."  
You frown, thinking. 

"you really had no choice, did you? you're right wwhen you say you're like us. you didn't have much of a choice either, like us."  
You stare at him, watching his demeanour change. He sighs and stares you in the eyes, angry looking. You notice his pupils go from wide, to slits like a cat. 

"no one has much choice in war when you refugee, you are just fleeing what you can't control, when it life or death, there is no choice. It no matter what side you on, if you have choice of stay behind and die in battle, or leave and save more people than you would fighting, you leave. I had chance to flee, my comrades have to fight, because if we don't stop her there we never stop her. I may not have choice, but all my comrades didn't have much of choice either. And it no matter, it have to be done, and if we no do it, who will? you? Нет, of course not. No one was do it, we had to. We shouldn't have had to, empire should have never gotten this bad... but it did. So to let future trolls live in a world we deserved, we need do what we can. Nothing get better if we don't make it better."  
He looked away from you, washing everything out of his hair. You think about what he said and agree with it before washing your own out. 

"yeah, I guess that is true.."

"Нет, not guess, you know it true. You want someone to be raised like you?"  
He looked at you again as he finished washing, turning his shower head off.  
"Just think about what I say, okay..?"  
He gave you a smile and a thumbs up, walking to the bench and drying himself off, unable to be seen again. You aren't sure what to say, honestly you aren't sure what to think either. He let you have a piece of his mind while you were both showering, and acted like it was just a casual hang out. 

For the rest of the shower you were thinking about what he said, how he knew you could be better, how he didn't once try to put you down like you do everyone else, and just talked to you as if he has known you your whole life, you never felt. Judged, you felt like with everyone else. But that's how you all grew up, so that's what you copied. But despite all that, Thetta hasn't ever judged anyone here harshly yet. You can tell there's a difference in judging, and being annoyed. He never judges, perhaps he feels he can't judge. Then again, can you really judge either? With being one of the highest of the high, yet acting like an angry, spiteful commoner? What is royalty, really? Other than superficial family lines or blood colour that people make you think you're special for. What is royalty really, when their heart is not as gold as the crown put upon their heads? When your blood runs black and cold with your ill will and actions, are you really that royal? Perhaps, are you even worse than the common man who works dawn to dusk to give you all that you have, grown cold with weary bitterness for the overlords that bleed their thick, tar blood all over everyone. Spreading their disease of greed, spreading their rotten intentions to all those they look down on? Is the man who makes another cold from being cold themselves really the bad guy here? Or is royalty some sort of cult, a cult that you are born into and forced to obey, or the laws of social order will collapse? What really is the point of oppressing the masses if in the end, they will lash out with fire and fury? What really is gaining? Are you really gaining much if the lowest of the low isn't gaining anything? If things are as strong as the weakest link, then why leave some with none? Life never has been something to control and starve, yet you are all born into a natural order, an order you are forced to obey. An order that's unnatural. Then again, what order is natural? When one order no longer works, was it ever normal in the first place? What even is normal? Your species can't even breed on their own. If you pailed someone, the most you might get is an alien STD, but never a grub. Is that really normal? What if the aliens on this new planet can do that? Make another of themselves through. Whatever process they use? What if they are no better than you? What if they are worse than you? What if they try to kill you? Does Thetta really know what he's doing? Can you really trust someone that's a product of your society and his at the same time? Well- yeah. You can trust him. Who else would risk their very life just to steal from the queen and load you onto a ship to be blasted off to safety, not even making sure he was on it before blast off. He literally was willing to throw his life away for strangers. His whole life has revolved around this very moment, how could you not trust that? He spent his whole life getting ready to save as many trolls as possible, while you were planing to just continue the war. He was much more productive than you ever were. Though you did stop a mass extinction by killing lusi, so yo assume that's. Good, right..? You can get better, right? You hope so, you really hope so. 

With washing the rest of your hair out, you turn the water off and shake your hair out for a second before walking over to the bench slowly. Your footsteps echoed in the room slightly, making the feeling of being alone creep in. You felt vulnerable once more, you could feel the water vapour breeze past you as you were walking. You don't know what to do with your hands anymore, you find your mind racing- then you see the bench. You pick up your towel and dry yourself off throughly, still thinking. All those people back on alternia probably never made it out, there is no way that everyone could coordinate a defence so quickly- although Thetta seems very prepared, so you assume everyone else is around his level as well. You wonder if Thetta is one of the weaker ones? You doubt that he's a weaker one, he attacked the queen, they would send the most skilled man to do the job. You realize you're dry, and have been drying your hair for a while. It's a tangled, poofy mess now, and is going to be a pain to brush. You sigh and start to get dressed, sliding everything on. You put your rings and cape on last, wrapping your scarf and slipping your glasses back on right after before walking out, and going to your sleeping cubicle to fix your hair. You aren't fond that you don't have all your clothes back home, and only the outfit you left in (and a good few you made yourself via the console just so you had more to wear), but that's the last of your worries you suppose. The conversation plays over in your head, your cape made you feel comfortable, dressed, protected. Protected from what? You're not sure, you're a highblood, you're strong and respected out of fear, you don't fear, others fear you. Though- it shouldn't be that way anymore, should it? You shouldn't act in ways that will push people away, you really shouldn't, but if you let yourself relax a bit, what might happen? Will people criticize you? Will they see a soft point and stab at it? Can you really trust Thettas words? Can you trust a man who trusts others that much? Or do you more so not trust yourself..? Is it him you don't trust, or you who you don't trust? Do you trust yourself? Can you trust yourself? Do you not trust Thetta because he trusts you?

You get pulled out of your head and back into the real world, or what's left of it. The smell of food fills the hallway, and the muffled sound of chattering is heard as a non-sealed door sits open. It lead to the kitchen, where everyone seemed to be gathered to eat. They conversed loudly among each other, laughing and joking along. Today seems to be better than the rest. Whatever day that is. You are tempted to walk in, but you aren't proper yet. You walk off without peeking into the room, you'll be back soon anyways.


End file.
